Melodies of Life
by thedoctorsrose
Summary: "Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance.
1. Prologue: Melody of Darkness

**Title: **Melodies of Life

**Summary: **"Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance. **  
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**Warnings: **Foul language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you may recognise within this story.

**_**Please Read**_****Authors Note: **Hello there, if you're new to my stories – greetings and welcome! If you've come here because you've read my other stories, nice to see you! Thanks for reading the first chapter of 'Melodies of Life'. Each chapter title is taken from songs either in the Legend of Zelda series or the Final Fantasy series. It's a fantasy story about a Prince named Kurt, who is forced into hiding when men from the neighbouring kingdom come to murder him and his family. He's left his kingdom and his best friend Blaine at the age of ten, only to come back seven years later when peace has fallen upon the kingdom. However, he has secrets that he cannot tell to his best friend who is elated he is back. What will the seventeen year-old prince do? Read on to find out.

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Prologue: Melody of Darkness

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Standing before the evil king Puckerman, my breathing was laboured and my heart stuttered anxiously. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and tanned skin, of course I cannot forget to mention his signature Mohawk, which he's had since we were children.

Although, when we were children, he was a level headed friend of mine. And now? He was a powerful dictator, descendant of the legendary king Demise. No one knew that he was who he was before he was king, he did not know either. We had all thought we were safe, despite him being the prince of our neighbouring kingdom, Gapra.

Puck, as I used to call him, and I were friends despite our kingdom's rivalry. We were never too close though. After his father the former king of Gapra sent an army to murder my parents, my older brother and myself, we severed ties.

My family and I were forced to go into hiding in a small village far away from Daguerro, my kingdom, and Gapra. No one knew of our whereabouts but the soldiers and knights who lead us there. It was upsetting leaving behind Daguerro, the place where I was born and grew up. I later learned it was for the best. I was forced into living in the barely populated village for seven years. I was pushed into farming and ruining my expensive silk robes. My father and my older brother Finn had to hunt every night to get us dinner.

Once our kingdom was free from the Gapra soldiers and the king of Gapra was killed by our own, we were safe to come home. It had been bitter sweet seeing my friends from my childhood, they had all grown up into beautiful women and handsome men. My older brother reunited with his former lady friend. The kingdom of Daguerro was elated to see their royal family return.

It was bittersweet for me, however… When I was ten years old, I had to leave my best friend. He was the son of my servant, Maria. He would come to the castle with his mother and he would play in the courtyard with me. He was my very best friend and I had to leave him. When we came back to Daguerro to reign once more, my best friend had changed from a young boy to a… Man.

This man was a handsome, strong and brave knight of Daguerro. He was happy to see me, I suppose he expected our friendship to return to its former glory. I wish that had been true.

Hours before I was taken by the hands of King Puckerman and the Gapra army, I had been with him. He and I had been captured by some Gapra knights near a fortress protected by hundreds of soldiers. We were careless and unaware that we were being watched – well, I was being watched.

I had made a foolish mistake bringing him there. I knew what would happen to him but I let it happen anyway. He was taken in by the Gapra soldiers and thrown into jail… I, was not.

He then discovered I'd be lying to him for most of our rekindled friendship. I tried to reason with him, to tell him it wasn't my fault.

He didn't listen.

And here I am. Standing in front of the evil king, about to be murdered for not only falling in love with a man but wielding magic, both which are outlawed in the new world my family had thought was safe.

I feared I would never be able to kiss my love's lips again or to be held by him when I'm scared. If only he knew I did this to protect him, to save him from a cruel and painful death.

"The entire kingdom of Daguerro is fighting at the gates to my castle, fighting the Gapra soldiers." King Puckerman spoke in a low voice, his breath hit my face and the very smell of it made me want to vomit. "I heard some people saying that that man is behind the rebellion."

"I wouldn't doubt it." I say, at least I get to live for another minute.

"I do not understand you, Hummel, when we were children you admired the girls roaming the kingdom." King Puckerman left me for a moment to open the curtains to a window within the throne room in which we stood. "You said you thought your brother's lady friend was beautiful."

"I may not love a woman, Puck but I do know a beautiful woman when I see one." King Puckerman turned around at me, his eyes full of anger and frustration. "I've changed since childhood, as have you. I've developed feelings I cannot hide nor deny, those feelings happen to be for a man." I paused, watching him grow angrier. "Not only that, during my family's absence for the past seven years, I also developed the ability to conjure magic."

"Both are unnatural. People like you need to be rid from the world, only then will the kingdoms of Gapra and Daguerro be peaceful with one another." King Puckerman unsheathed his sword, holding the black blade in his hand.

"Is that so?" I laugh, "The two kingdoms were civil with each other before your father took over Gapra. Mages and Witches were free to use their magic whenever they please. They did not need to worry about soldiers brutally murdering them before the eyes of their children! And men who loved other men were free to marry the one they love. Same with women who love women." I stood my ground, I needed to get this off my chest, and at least he would know what I believe in before he slides that blade through my chest. "You're taking away the freedom of your own people, Puck, you do not need to do this!"

"I have heard enough." He said, holding up the blade. "Legend has it, this sword has a spirit living within it. Protecting whomever dares to hold it."

"Fascinating." I try to be calm but I know he's about to kill me. My young life will slip away in minutes as the warm blood leaves my body, only to dry on the floor and be washed by Daguerro citizens who will be ordered to work for the Gapra royal family after the last member of the Daguerro royal family is killed.

King Puckerman pressed the tip of his sword to my chest, beneath my warm skin and flesh lied my heart. "Any last words, Kurt?" For the first time since childhood, King Puckerman called me by my first name. "Anything you want to get off your chest before you can't?"

I say one thing before my body is piercing with pain and everything fades away.

"I'm sorry, Blaine."

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**Next Chapter: **_Prelude of Light—_seven years ago, Kurt had a best friend. A very good best friend. They were two peas in a pod. They knew each other's deep and darkest secrets. Nothing could tear them apart. Except perhaps, an army with swords and arrows, searching for the royal family to murder.  
_"Blaine, I must go!"  
"But, you're my best friend, you can't go!"  
"I know… I will be back, as soon as possible."  
"Promise?"  
"I promise."  
"Please don't break it, Kurt."  
"I would never break a promise to you, Blaine!" _

**End Authors Note: **Please read and review! I like to have constructive criticism. Tell me if you want more of _Melodies of Life_.


	2. Chapter One: Prelude of Light

**Title:**Melodies of Life

**Summary: **"Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance.

**Warnings: **Foul language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you may recognise within this story.

**Authors Note: **Sorry for the delay in the chapter. I hope you all enjoy this and _please _tell me what you think of it. If you have any questions about the story, you can review the question or simply PM, whichever is fine with you. The name of this chapter is from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, if you're interested in hearing the version I base this chapter off of, look for "Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Prelude of Light Remix" by sasukeshika on YouTube.

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Chapter One: Prelude of Light

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The kingdom of Daguerro has been ruling from mountain to mountain for over a hundred years. Passing down stories and legends from generation to generation. This legend, for example, has been passed down since the days of myth and magic. The legend tells of a young prince who carried the power of the Gods, sent by fate to find the four wise men to save his friends and family, and to defeat the descendant of the evil king Demise.

The king of Daguerro, Burt, was given power after his father and mother passed away of old age. He married a young woman from the city surrounding the castle, her name was Carole. Two years after being the King and Queen of Daguerro with no heir to the throne, they had their first son Prince Finnegan Hummel, his name was shortened to Finn after the first few years of his life. He preferred the shorter version better than the longer.

After Prince Finn turned eight, Queen Carole announced to the court she was pregnant with the next royal baby. Six months later, Prince Kurt was brought into the world.

The same year, the Queen of the neighbouring kingdom of Gapra had her first child, Noah Puckerman. At this time, Daguerro and Gapra were civil with one another. After a fight that caused the two kingdoms to despise the other, they were getting along.

Prince Kurt became friends with Prince Noah, it was only natural for the two princes to have a friendship. The Puckerman family was often invited to parties held by the Hummel court, the two boys would play together around the large castle. They were always supervised by Kurt's servant Maria. Maria's family had always worked for the royal family of Daguerro. She had warm hazel eyes and shoulder-length curly dark brown hair with hints of grey coming in.

When Kurt was five years-old, Maria brought her son to work.

Kurt had been sitting in the grass pulling at the blades. Birds chirped and the skies were blue and bright. Two guards stood at the entrance to the courtyard so the prince couldn't leave by himself. There was also a window connecting to the throne room of the castle where his mother and father worked, although he was young and naïve, he knew they were watching him constantly.

"My lord?" he recognised the soothing voice of his servant, the prince looked up with his glasz eyes and saw Maria standing at the entrance to the courtyard wearing her signature robin egg blue dress and brown boots.

"Maria!" Kurt cried, running towards her happily. Maria was the only one Kurt had to play with when Prince Noah wasn't in Daguerro. Kurt's older brother wasn't very nice to him, Finn was jealous that Kurt got all the attention for being the youngest.

Maria didn't lean on her knees and reach out her arms to hug him as she always did. Instead, she looked over to her side, where a small boy stood behind her. Prince Kurt stopped in his tracks, staring the curly haired boy. "Who is that, Maria?" he asked hesitantly.

"My lord, this is my son Blaine." Maria reached around Blaine and pushed at the shorter boy to step forward and face the prince. "My husband had to go on a business trip to Gapra, he had no one to watch him and so I brought him here to the castle."

"What will he do here? Will he be working?" the prince pondered, Maria chuckled and patted her son's head.

"No, my lord, I spoke with your mother and she said it will be alright for Blaine to keep you company during the day." Blaine smiled slightly, his nose was dirty and his clothes were tattered and ripped. "Is that alright right you, my lord?"

Kurt scuffed his boot against the grass, shrugging. "I suppose." Maria beamed at him.

"Blaine, dear, why don't you go play in the grass with the prince and introduce yourself nice and proper?" Maria pushed her son towards the prince, "I'll be back with your lunch, my lord." Kurt nodded and his servant left and he was alone with her son.

They stared at each other for a minute or so, before Kurt turned around and went to go sit down in the grass. Blaine followed him and sat down beside him, Kurt felt uncomfortable with the boy. He smelt bad, almost as if he hadn't bathed in weeks. Not knowing it was rude to ask someone when the last time they had a bath was, Kurt asked him.

"When was the last time you had a bath?" Blaine gasped at the sound of Kurt's voice. The other boy pursed his lips and said nothing. "Would you want to use mine? I can ask Maria to fill it up with water and you can bathe." Blaine still said nothing to the prince. "The soap she puts in the water smells like flowers. Do you like flowers?" Kurt sighed loudly, what was wrong with this boy? Could he not speak? "What do you do for fun?" Blaine remained silent. Kurt gave up trying to talk to him. Kurt stood up and walked over to the throne room window. He could see his mother and father in there speaking to the Chancellor Cid. Cid was a tall, boney man with grey hair and red cotton robes. He turned back around and saw Blaine standing in front of him, frowning. "What, do I have something on my face?" Kurt reached up to feel if he had some breakfast left on his face.

"My father says baths are for the nobles and the royal family. The only time I ever have a bath is when my mother is home for the day and my father is on his business trips to Gapra." Kurt was surprised how similar Blaine's voice was to Maria's, it sounded kind and even if Blaine were giving Kurt the worst news in the world, he'd probably smile. "I haven't had a bath in a month… My mother hasn't noticed because she's never home, she's always here taking care of you."

Kurt was shocked. He had no idea what to say to him.

"I would very much appreciate using your bath… If you do not mind, my lord, I haven't smelt like flowers before." Kurt grinned and took Blaine's hand in his.

"Well, come on then. I'll show you to my chambers, but I won't tell Maria that the bath is for you. I do not know whether she'd allow you to use my bath." Blaine nodded, understanding the prince. They left the courtyard together, walking through the royal gardens and then entering the castle.

Daguerro Castle had marble flooring and stone walls with pictures of past kings and queens, the Daguerro emblem hung on the wall. It was a light blue colour with a golden lion in the middle and it was bordered in white.

Throughout the castle, there were many servants cleaning every inch of the stone building. The two boys passed by the kitchens, Blaine had never smelt food that good before, Kurt giggled when he saw his face. After walking up a grand staircase and turning down several halls, they made it to Kurt's chambers. Kurt opened the door and Blaine was awestruck.

Kurt's bedroom was the biggest room he had ever seen. It was even larger than his entire house! There was a large dining room table with a bowl of fresh fruits sitting within it and two candelabras with every candle lit and flickering. There was a large wardrobe that held all of Kurt's expensive robes and clothing. Kurt's bed was so big Blaine could fit seven of himself in it! He can't forget to mention the door that led to the indoor washroom, where the bath tub laid, there was even a toilet inside of it – well a hole where you do your business.

"Wow." He finally let out his astonishment. "Your chambers are so big!"

"My parents and my older brother's rooms are bigger. I get the tinier one because I am the youngest." Kurt walked over to his bed and sat down on the mattress. "I should go get Maria, you can hide behind that curtain." Blaine nodded and went to the window and hid behind the curtain. Kurt giggled to himself when he saw Blaine's shoes poking out the bottom of the drapes. "Why don't you hide under my bed instead, Blaine? Maria will see your feet."

Blaine sighed sadly and left his hiding spot and crawled under the prince's bed. Kurt left the room and found Blaine's mother in only a second. "Maria, I wish to take a bath. Can you fill my tub with water, please?"

"Of course, my lord." Maria followed Kurt back to his room and Kurt froze in the doorway. He could see Blaine's curls from under the bed, if he could notice them – Maria surely could. "If you don't mind me by asking, my lord, where is Blaine?"

"H-He's, uh, in the courtyard playing with my kick ball." The young prince says, Maria nodded and began drawing him a bath. Kurt went and sat on his bed, he heard Blaine holding back laughter. "Shush, Blaine." The laughter stopped, but Kurt knew Blaine was seconds from bursting. "Please Blaine, if you laugh we'll both get in trouble!"

"Okay!" Blaine whispered from under the bed.

"I am done, my lord, just call me when you're finished." Maria left, closing the door behind her. Kurt jumped off his bed and locked the door.

"You can come out Blaine, I'll let you use some of my robes, next time you come over you can bring them back." Kurt opened up his wardrobe and took out a maroon coloured tunic. "Here." Blaine took the tunic from Kurt's hands, it was the softest fabric he had ever felt. "I'll show you where the soup is and the towels."

Blaine followed Kurt around his chamber, Kurt gave him a towel and showed him where the expensive soaps were. "There you go." Kurt poured some soap into the water, Blaine took off his shirt and Kurt turned around and yelped. "Blaine!"

"What?" Blaine asked, dropping his shirt onto the floor.

"You cannot get undressed when someone else is in the room!" Kurt covered his eyes, Blaine was confused. He had never heard that rule before. Kurt uncovered his eyes when Blaine began to cry. "Why are you crying?"

"I-I didn't know that r-rule, Kurt! I am so sorry!" Blaine sat on the floor crying loudly. Kurt kneeled on the ground and put his hand on Blaine's naked shoulder.

"It's a-alright, Blaine, you did not know." Kurt was about to leave the room when he saw several bruises along Blaine's body. "Blaine… You're hurt." The shorter boy froze, his crying ceased and his body went rigid. "What happened? Did you fall?" Blaine stood up and pulled on his shirt.

"S-Sorry, I shouldn't be asking the prince to use his bath. You wouldn't want a peasant using it…" Blaine wiped his face, the dirt caked onto his face smeared from the wetness of his tears. "I should go home, my mother won't mind me being home alone." Blaine left the bathroom in a quick walk, Kurt ran after him, his boots slid across the floor to catch up with commoner. Blaine stood at the bedroom door, trying to figure out the lock on it.

"Why do you want to leave all of a sudden?" Kurt felt like he had done something wrong. "I thought you wanted to be my friend."

Blaine turned around, his tears creating a clean path down his cheeks. "I-I do, I just, I don't want to use your bath."

"But you're filthy!" Kurt took Blaine's hands and brought him back into the bathroom. "Please, use my bathtub."

Blaine stood in front of Kurt, unmoving and emotionless.

"Please?" Blaine, who was still silently crying, nodded and took off his shirt again. This time, Kurt decided against mentioning the bruises on Blaine's small frame. "If you need me, just call. My robes are over here," Kurt pointed and he started to leave. He heard a tiny 'thank-you' as he left and he smiled to himself. He closed the bathroom door to let Blaine have privacy and he went to sit on his bed and have a short nap.

He laid on top of his down sheets and his eyes drooped close slowly, slumber soon to over his body.

_Kurt stood in a dark room, no not a room a field. His feet were planted to the ground and he could not move a limb. The skies were black and though he was standing, there was nothing beneath him. His heart started to beat fast, his hands began to sweat nervously. He had never been so scared. He tried to call out to Finn to help him, though they had their differences, his older brother would always protect him from the monsters under his bed. _

_"You foolish boy." A voice boomed throughout the strange world. Kurt began to shake violently, despite being unable to move himself. "You believe your brother will come and save you?" He had never heard this voice before, but somehow it sounded familiar. "He is the last person who would come and save you." _

_The ground under him vanished, resulting in the young prince plummeting from where he stood. He tried to scream but nothing came out of his mouth. He landed on something hard, his body ached in pain. He was finally able to move, he tried to sit up but he hurt too much. He opened his eyes and saw a… It couldn't be a ghost. His father said that ghosts did not exist and it was silly to think so. _

_The being, or whatever it was, looked him in the eye. Well, he thinks it's looking him in the eye, it doesn't actually have a face. "You're not ready to awaken me yet…" _

_"What?" he asked it, it cackled at the sound of his voice and it stepped away from him. "I want to go home!" Kurt cried, he was so scared right now. He wanted to go home and crawl into his Mother's arms, he always felt safe there. _

_Kurt sat up as much as he could, he was able to see the phantom more clearly. It was a large creature, with a shadow aura seeping from its pores, it had fire red hair and its body looked to be completely made from coal. It also wielded a large black blade, with serrated edges. "You admire this blade, do you not?" the phantom asked to five year-old boy. "Do you care to touch it, prince?" it held out the blade for Kurt to take a touch. Kurt stood up, wiping the dirt from his robes and reached out a hand to touch it, as his fingertips grew closer to the metal sword, something grabbed Kurt's body and pushed him away from the phantom. _

_Kurt was placed on the ground gently, he opened his eyes (when had he even closed them?) and he saw a knight standing in front of him. Like the phantom, he could not see the face, but the knight wore a Daguerro knight's uniform. The knight's uniform was a dark blue tunic with chain maille, with white tights and a white long-sleeved shirt underneath and brown boots. The knight held a Daguerro shield in one hand and in the other a sword. "Are you alright?" The knight put his sword in its sheath and the shield on his back. The knight reached out with his hands to feel the prince's body, to see if he was hurt in any way. _

_"I-I am fine." Kurt whispered, the knight nodded and turned his head towards the phantom, floating in the air a few feet away, watching them both. "What is that?" _

_"Now is not the time to explain what that creature is, Kurt," he said, "You will learn in time what it is." _

_"May I ask where we are?" the prince wondered, the knight laughed quietly at his question. "Why are you laughing at me? I am the prince!" _

_"And one day you will be king." The knight mumbled. Kurt knew for a fact he would never be king, Finn was older and therefore was the heir to the kingdom. "You must listen to me now, Kurt, no more questions." _

_Kurt frowned but agreed to ask anymore questions. "Thank-you." The knight glanced back at the phantom, who was smirking at them now. "This land is a realm you should never enter. For if you do, that phantom that was speaking to you, will try to get you to free him from here." The phantom began to cackle. "If he is freed from this world sealed by the Gods, he will wreak havoc on Daguerro and the world." _

_"I would never free such a thing!" Kurt shouted, "I love my kingdom." _

_"I know you do, you must try your hardest to never come here again…" the knight's words were cut off when the phantom charged at the pair. The knight took out his sword and shield and blocked the blow of the phantom's blade. Kurt jumped back screaming. "My dear prince, do not fear, it is my duty to protect you when you come into this realm. You will never be hurt here." _

_"He is lying!" the phantom shouted, his cackling grew louder. The phantom swung its sword and the force of the blade resulted in the knight flying backwards. Kurt scrambled to see if the knight was okay, but the phantom walked towards him. _

_"Kurt, you must awake from your sleep, if you do not you will be killed!" the knight yelled from where he was grasping his injured arm. "Please, my prince, wake up!" _

_"I don't know how!" Kurt didn't want to die! He was so young! "I'm scared!" _

_"Try Kurt! Wake up! Kurt, please!" _

_"I-I can't!" _

_"Prince Kurt, please wake up!" _

"Please wake up!" Blaine cried, his curls dripped onto Kurt's quilts but he'd apologise later. Kurt was screaming so loud, the whole palace could probably here. "Prince Kurt!" the prince awoke startled and shaking. "Thank the Gods you are awake!" Blaine grinned, Kurt's chest was heaving like he had just run a marathon. "Are you alright?"

"I-I…" That dream had been so vivid, "I am fine."

"Are you sure? You were screaming with such a great volume." Blaine climbed off the bed and picked up the towel where he had left it, to finish drying his curls.

"I'm…" Kurt began to hiccup, he made a quick and mad decision. He jumped off the bed and embraced Blaine in a hug. The freshly bathed boy paused for a split second before wrapping his arms around him.

"It's okay, Kurt."

After that day, they grew closer. Every few days, Blaine would come to the palace with Maria to keep the prince occupied during the day. They would play in the courtyard and fool around with the castle guards.

Two years later, the two had changed since they had first met. Kurt was growing taller faster than Blaine was but Blaine's baby fat was shrinking, whereas Kurt's remained on his body. Blaine now had shorter curls – Kurt got the royal hairdresser to cut them for him and Kurt sometimes wore glasses from time to time.

"I wish I was allowed to leave the castle grounds during the day without my father or brother with me." Kurt said one day. They laid side by side on the grass in the courtyard, Blaine had a flower in his hair and Kurt had one behind his ear.

"Why are you not allowed to leave?" Blaine wondered, turning his head to look at his friend.

"Father said it is dangerous for me since I am only seven. He said once I am ten years of age I am allowed to go throughout the kingdom as I please, as long as I have a knight with me." Kurt motioned his hand over to the knights standing guard near the entrance to the courtyard. "I wish he knew I wasn't a child, I do not need a knight everywhere I go!"

"You're allowed to leave the castle for the Eternal Harvest? Right? And for the Festival of Time in Estheim?" Blaine sat up, his elbows pressed into the lush green grass.

"Of course, I am allowed to go and see the events throughout the kingdom – _if_, I have someone with me. Finn is allowed to go wherever he pleases and he doesn't need a knight with him! Finn goes to Farron every day to see his lady friend, Rachel, and father does not object!" Kurt took the flower from his ear and threw it across the courtyard. "It is not fair!"

Blaine sighed, sometimes he wished Kurt could see the castle town and play in the alleys with him. It would be nice if he could go to the different towns around Daguerro with Kurt and see all of the sights. If only they could leave the castle for a few hours without getting noticed… Blaine looked around the courtyard, the two knights standing guard didn't look too enthused in their job to watch the prince. If Blaine distracts them, Kurt could leave courtyard without them noticing and then they could sneak out of the castle!

"I have an idea!" Blaine whispered, he leaned in towards Kurt's ear and he told Kurt what he thought of.

"That's brilliant, Blaine! But, my parents might notice I am not in the courtyard if they look through the window." That's true, Blaine had forgotten about that stupid window. "However, they're in Estheim right now talking to the Mayor…" Blaine stood up, brushed the grass from his brown tunic and walked over to the two knights.

"Good afternoon." He smiled up at them.

"Do not bother us, boy, just because you're the prince's friend does not mean you can speak to us." One of them said, Blaine scowled at them.

"Excuse me, but I am the prince's _best _friend. If I were to tell him how rude you've been to me, well, I do believe the prince will have a word with his father, you know, King Burt." The two knights glanced nervously at each other, the one knight who was on the other side of the entrance walked over to stand with the other while Blaine lectured them.

Blaine saw Kurt walk slowly past them until he was out of his sight. "I hope the next time I speak to you two, you're more polite – how pathetic, two Daguerro knights getting lectured by a commoner boy." Blaine laughed and left the courtyard, the two knights hung their heads in shame.

Blaine ran past the royal garden and saw Kurt hiding behind a rose bush. "Come on, Kurt!" Blaine shouted playfully as he ran out of the garden. The prince followed him, giggling like a mad man.

After sneaking out of the castle, which had proven harder than they both expected. They stood in Daguerro castle town. "Blaine, there are knights here, we need to leave." Blaine took Kurt's hand in his.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't see you. I know all the secret ways to get out of here!" Blaine led him through a dark and dirty alley, until they reached a small house. "My home has a window that we can crawl through and we're out of the castle town."

Kurt was surprised by the appearance of Blaine's home. It was dirty, smelly and everything was dusty. No wonder Maria lived in the castle with the rest of the servants. "Why is your house so dirty, Blaine?" Blaine shrugged and stood on a bed to open a window. "Blaine?"

"Come on, my father will be home soon." Kurt took the hand Blaine held out for him and stood up on the bed, the window was open and Kurt could see the fields surrounding Daguerro castle town. Just as Kurt was climbing through the window, the door to Blaine's house opened. Without another thought, Blaine pushed Kurt through the window. The prince fell hard onto the grass.

"_Blaine_!" Kurt hissed. He stood up to yell at his friend through the window, but the words died in his throat. Blaine stood on the bed, facing a man who looked just like Blaine, only dirtier – like how Blaine looked like when they first met.

_That must be Blaine's father_, Kurt thought to himself. "F-Father." Blaine stuttered, Kurt recognised that tone of voice to be fear. "You're home early."

"Ye, got me job done faster than I thought I would 'ave." Blaine's father had a strange accent. "Wha are you doin' home?" Kurt saw Blaine gulp nervously.

"I was just coming home to grab something then I was going to head back to the castle." Blaine picked up a wooden statuette from the bedside table and made his way to leave the house. Kurt gasped under his breath when Blaine's father pushed him back onto the bed, the statuette went flying.

"You goin' back to tha' castle wit' the fairy princess?" Kurt glared at the man, he was not a fairy princess! First of all, he wasn't a girl and he was definitely not a fairy!

"Prince Kurt isn't a girl nor a fairy, he is my friend!" Blaine sounded as if he had started to cry. Kurt wanted to go in there and give his father a piece of his mind!

"He ain't no friend of yours, you ugly little rat!" Blaine's father stood over Blaine, grinning with his disgustingly rotten teeth. "You're just a dirty piece of garbage!" That's when the first fist hit Blaine. Kurt stood there watching Blaine's father beat Blaine, punch after punch, kick after kick. He had to suffer hearing Blaine's screaming for what felt like hours. And then it finally clicked.

The bruises Kurt saw on Blaine the day they first met… They were from his father. How did Maria not know of this? Probably because she's never at home with Blaine. "You're just like your mother, tha' ugly 'hore!" Blaine screamed for mercy and his father took a step back. "I'm goin' to the tavern." And he left the house, slamming the door behind him. Seconds later, Blaine climbed out the window and took Kurt's hand.

"Blaine—"

"Come on." Blaine smiled, but winced, his eyes were bruised black and his noses was bleeding. "I know the perfect place, you're going to love it." Blaine dragged Kurt, who was upset that Blaine didn't want to talk about what had just happened. Blaine led Kurt to where the path up to the town of Villiers was. They had to jump over the river and climb up a ladder until they got to where Blaine wanted to show Kurt.

Kurt could almost see all of Daguerro from where they stood – perhaps he's exaggerating, more like just the path they had just taken and the wall surrounding Daguerro castle town and the tips of Daguerro castle were visible. "This is so beautiful." Kurt was in awe. He had never seen anything so attractive to the eye, which was surprising since he lived in the royal palace of Daguerro with the prettiest paintings and artworks known to man. Kurt looked over to Blaine who now had a box. Blaine sat down on the ground and opened it, now that Kurt thinks about it, it was more of a chest. Kurt wondered where the chest had come from, where had Blaine been hiding it?

Blaine, pointedly ignoring Kurt, took out a few rolls of bandages and a bottle of cream. He sniffled and opened the bottle, putting some cream on his fingers, he rubbed his eyes slowly, hissing every so often. Kurt sat down beside his best friend and took the bottle from him.

"K-Kurt…" Blaine began, his voice tired and drained.

"Please, Blaine." Kurt said as he put some of the cream on his own fingers and rubbed it on Blaine's injuries and bruises. He then bandaged up the cuts on Blaine's arms and a cut below Blaine's left eye. "There, all better." Blaine stared at the ground, saying nothing to Kurt but a quiet 'thank-you'. Kurt closed the chest and placed it beside them. Kurt put an arm around Blaine's shoulder and held him close.

"I am so sorry, Kurt." Sobs began to shake Blaine's body.

"Shh, don't worry about it." Kurt rested his head against Blaine's.

Blaine wiped his nose on his arm, "You're my best friend, Kurt."

"You're mine too, Blaine."

A day after that, Blaine came to live in the castle with his mother. Blaine asked Kurt why he was asked by the king to live in the castle with her, he wondered if Kurt had told the king about what his father had been doing. Kurt promised him that it shouldn't matter why he was there, just that he is.

Every week, the two would go to the spot where Kurt bandaged up Blaine's wounds. It was now their spot. If they couldn't find the other, they'd go there to find them and almost always there they were.

Kurt once told Blaine one day at their spot of the dream he had the day they first met. He told Blaine of the phantom and the knight who saved him. He had expected Blaine to laugh and tell him it was just a silly dream. Instead, Blaine told him that sometimes dreams feel too real, but there was no way that a phantom in Kurt's dream could kill him. Kurt thanked him.

Over the five years they'd known each other, tensions were rising between Daguerro and Gapra. One day a Gapra soldier came to Daguerro castle town. Kurt and Blaine watched him talk to the king and queen through the window in the courtyard. After that, Kurt wasn't allowed to leave the castle anymore. King Burt had ordered a knight to be with Kurt every minute of every day. It made it hard for Kurt and Blaine to talk.

Soon, rumours were spreading around the castle town that a few mages and witches from the town of Coral were killed by Gapra soldiers. The killing of mages and witches in Daguerro is illegal as far as Kurt knows, apparently the Gapra soldiers that did it do not mind breaking the laws of their neighbouring kingdom.

"Are you scared that Daguerro and Gapra will go to war?" Blaine asked, putting his own pillow on Kurt's bed for their sleepover.

"No, I believe that Gapra is just bluffing. Their army has nothing on the Daguerro army." The two laughed and they got comfy on Kurt's bed. "Blaine?" Kurt said into the silence.

"Yes?"

"I am scared…" There was a rustle on the bed and Kurt felt Blaine's arm around him. "If we do go to war, my father and Finn will have to go fight since they're knights."

"They may be knights, Kurt, but they're the king and heir to the throne of Daguerro. The army will not just let them die." Kurt shivered at the thought and moved so his head was resting on Blaine's chest. That's just how they were, they were extremely close with one another.

"Are you scared?" Kurt asked, looking into Blaine's honey-hazel eyes.

Blaine shrugged, "Maybe? If I am just a little."

"You're never scared." Kurt rolled over of Blaine's chest and cuddled into his side, his head rested on Blaine's shoulder.

"That's because you're scared enough for the both of us." Blaine snorted, Kurt smacked his chest and the two went silent and fell asleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, there was a persistent person on the other side of Kurt's bedroom door knocking like crazy. Kurt got out of his bed, as did Blaine, and opened it. It was a knight. "Prince Kurt, please get changed as quickly as you can and go to your parents room." Kurt stood there, making a face at the knight as if he were mad. "My lord, it is of the upmost importance, please hurry!" The knight left running. Kurt closed the door and was about to say something about the knight when they heard screaming and swords clanging against another. Kurt jumped and ran to Blaine, who was just as panicked as Kurt was. Blaine opened one of Kurt's curtains and saw Gapra soldiers scattered around the palace grounds fighting Daguerro knights.

"Kurt, we need to get changed and go right now." Blaine opened up Kurt's wardrobe, "Kurt, grab a bag."

"W-What, why?" Kurt did what Blaine asked anyway.

"I have a feeling you're going to need it…" Blaine began throwing Kurt's clothes into the bag. There were more screams and someone began to knock on Kurt's door again.

"Prince Kurt!" It was another knight, the two threw on some clothes – Kurt a green tunic and Blaine a purple. They opened the door and there stood a Daguerro knight, dressed in dark blue. "Please, we must—" the knight's head was clean off, a Gapra soldier stood in front of the two boys.

"Ah, Prince Kurt." The Gapra soldier was a woman, her black hair was tied up in a ponytail and she wore a white strapless bra with no shirt over top and beige shorts, that were very, _very _tight. "We've been looking for you."

Kurt stood there, gaping at her. Was his life going to end at ten years old?

Blaine took action and kicked the woman in shin, she hissed and reached down to sooth her knee. Blaine pushed her over and took Kurt's hand, running down the hall towards the queen and kings chambers. As they did, they saw Gapra soldiers fighting Daguerro knights.

Blaine slid on the marble flooring and he fell, bringing Kurt down with him. "Ah!" Blaine cried out.

"Blaine!" Kurt screamed, they were vulnerable in the middle of the hall. There were Gapra soldiers everywhere and apparently they wanted Kurt. "Come on, Blaine, get up."

"Kurt, my knee hurts really bad." Kurt grabbed Blaine's knee and took a look, the knee was scraped and there was blood running down his shin. "Oh my God!" Blaine grabbed Kurt and braced them to get hit by the blade of a Gapra soldier. When nothing hit them, they both looked up.

In front of them stood a Daguerro knight, just like the other ones. "My prince, please go!" Kurt recognised that voice, it was the knight from his dream. His face was visible now, he had a thick brown beard but his head was covered by the hood of a dark blue cloak he wore. Kurt helped Blaine stand up and they hobbled down the hallway, Kurt could hear the knight from his dream following behind Blaine and himself.

Once they made it to his parent's chambers, the knight stopped them. "I understand that a knight had told you to come here, but please believe me, my prince, we must go to the stables immediately." Kurt frowned slightly but he was worried about Blaine right now, he followed the knight who led them down the stairs and towards the horse stables.

When they reached there, Kurt was surprised there were no Gapra soldiers.

"Kurt!" Kurt heard his mother cry. She ran over to him in her satin gown and hugged him tight. "For a moment I thought…" She shook her head and kissed his hair. "I am glad you are safe, my boy."

"Mother, Blaine hurt his leg, we have to bandage it up." Kurt said to his mother who shook her head and picked Kurt up, forcing him to let go of Blaine.

"We have no time for that." She carried him away from the other boy and put him on a white horse. "The knight over there will steer your horse for you."

"Where are we going mother? And what about Blaine?" Kurt looked back at Blaine, who was luckily getting the help he needed from his dream knight.

"You mustn't worry about where we are going. It need not concern you." She kissed his hair once more before climbing on her own horse. Kurt finally noticed Finn and King Burt on their own horses as well. Kurt was about to jump off his horse to get Blaine when his dream knight jumped on the horse behind him.

"Wait!" Kurt shouted, smacking his dream knight's hands from the reigns. "I must speak to Blaine! I cannot leave him behind!" Blaine ran over to Kurt, limping because of his hurt knee.

The prince began to cry, Blaine was his best friend, he couldn't just leave him where it wasn't safe! But… if his mother says he have to…

"Blaine, I must go!" Kurt said, looking down at Blaine from on top of the horse.

"But, you're my best friend, you can't go!" Blaine, too, was crying.

"I know… I will be back, as soon as possible." Of course he didn't know if that was true or not, but he would make sure it was. He doesn't care what his father says, he will be back for Blaine.

"Promise?" Blaine held out his arm and stuck his pinkie out, silently asking for Kurt to pinkie swear.

"I promise." Kurt put his pinkie around Blaine's and then let go.

"Please don't break it, Kurt." The dream knight kicked his legs against the horse and it started to gallop, Kurt hardly heard his friend. He turned around and yelled back at him.

"I would never break a promise to you, Blaine!"

The dream knight began picking up speed on the horse, it didn't take too long before Kurt couldn't see Blaine at all.

"Don't worry, my prince, you will see him again." The dream knight said as they rode through the night. Kurt could still here the fighting going on in Daguerro castle. He saw the confused looks of the Daguerro townspeople and it hurt his heart that these people might die because of Gapra. He looked back at the dream knight.

"How do you know? What if I never see him again?" Kurt asked, his bottom lip quivered.

"Trust me, my prince, you will return to Daguerro someday and you'll see Blaine."

Kurt could only hope that was true.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **_The Place I'll Return to Someday_—after seven years hidden away from the Gapra army, the royal family of Daguerro return to their now peaceful kingdom. Prince Kurt, now seventeen years old, escapes his duties as prince to reminisce in the only place where he knows he will not be disturbed, too bad he finds something else instead.  
_"Who goes there?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"You heard me, who are you?"  
"Kurt Hummel, prince of Daguerro."  
"…Kurt?" _

**End Authors Note: **Please, please, please, review! I want to know what you all think of this story!


	3. Ch2: The Place I'll Return to Someday

**Title: **Melodies of Life

**Summary: **"Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance.

**Warnings: **Foul language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you may recognise within this story.

**Authors Note: **Wow, I, uh, updated quickly. I haven't updated this quickly in a LONG time. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know I enjoyed writing it.

**Song:** The song I based this chapter off of is found on YouTube by the name of "Final Fantasy IX – The Place I'll Return To Someday" by FFMusicStation, I do not own the music. I do suggest you listen to it, it's a beautiful piece of music.

* * *

Chapter Two: The Place I'll Return to Someday

* * *

Seven years.

That is how long the royal family of Daguerro was in hiding from the Gapra army. It took them a month to escape to the village of Lumina, where they would be staying until things calmed down between the two kingdoms. Kurt was forced to work to find his food and he had to sleep on the cold hard ground until they reached the village on the outskirts of Daguerro.

When the royal family arrived, the villagers welcomed them with open arms. They fed them and gave them shelter, they now lived in a small home with a wooden stove and three beds. The family never received quiet in their home, however, for their house was connected to the watermill. Every minute of every day they could hear the churning of the mill, picking up the water and then putting it back into the lake. It was very annoying in Kurt's opinion.

Kurt was anxious to return to Daguerro to see Blaine, he could only hope his best friend was alive. The rumours he heard around the village were scary, according to the villagers of Lumina, Daguerro was being destroyed by the Gapra army and the king. Kurt had heard this first by a boy by the name of Jacob, a boy with large hair and broken glasses.

"My father said the Gapra army has already taken over the town, Farron."

Kurt immediately went home to ask his father if this was true or not. When he opened the door, he knew it was true without speaking a word. Finn sat at the dining room table crying, Kurt had forgotten Finn's love, Rachel, lived in Farron. It was most likely the lady was dead. The younger prince tried to comfort his older brother, Finn pushed him away and left the house, only to come back two days later.

Sometimes at night, Kurt could hear his father and mother speaking with Finn, discussing when they should return to Daguerro. Their discussion did not please Kurt in the least, they said they would wait until it is safe enough – what if it was never safe enough? The Gapra army was strong, they would terrorize Daguerro until it was dust!

After a year in Lumina… Kurt had given up hope seeing his kingdom and Blaine again. He could only hope Blaine was alive and well, but he knew that Blaine was most likely dead. When they had left the ten year-old at the stables in Daguerro castle, he was injured and once Kurt couldn't see him anymore, a Gapra soldier most likely killed him. Kurt cried himself to sleep every night for a year.

After two, Kurt never thought about Blaine anymore, he had more important things to worry about than a little boy he left behind who was dead by now.

Now he had to worry about eating every night, he had to worry about cleaning his clothes and bathing himself so he didn't smell like dirt and sweat. He had to worry about his mother who had become depressed living in Lumina – he can understand why she would be depressed.

Lumina wasn't the best place to live. The children were rude, the men were chauvinistic and the women were flaunting their body parts, Kurt had seen more than a twelve year-old should ever see.

Finn, though he lost Rachel, would gawk at the women's chests. Kurt would grimace and look away. He had found Finn's lady beautiful when they lived in Daguerro, Rachel always wore the prettiest dresses when she visited the palace and her hair was always styled to perfection. He admired her beauty. But the women in Lumina weren't beautiful nor were they pretty. They were piggish creature who smelt wore revealing clothing and tried to be unfaithful to their husbands – which didn't quite work out in a village of six families.

"Come on, Kurt, she's beautiful." Finn said three years after they moved to Lumina, Finn was now twenty-one and Kurt was thirteen. They sat outside of their house at a wooden table, Kurt was working on stitching one of Finn's tunics while Finn watched the women do their laundry.

Finn's gaze was stuck on a young woman, whose name was Quinn. Kurt wasn't going to lie, Quinn had attractive features, her hair was a lovely blonde and her eyes were a soft brown. She often flirted with Finn who was enamoured by her beauty. Kurt, though he thought her natural features were pleasant, thought she wore too much make-up and she wore corsets that pushed up her lack of breasts.

"I do not understand why you do not find her pretty." Finn said, smacking Kurt in the head.

"Stop it!" Kurt hissed, "You'll make me prick myself with the needle." Kurt looked up at the women doing their laundry. His father had said age thirteen was when his body began to change and his feelings for ladies grew stronger. But Kurt felt nothing for a woman, he felt no love nor lust.

As they continued to work, a Daguerro knight arrived on horseback, it was Kurt's dream knight. Who since the night three years ago, would come and make sure he was safe and doing well. Kurt left Finn's tunic to go greet him, the dream knight, who went by the name of 'A' jumped off his horse and tied it to the stables. "A!" Kurt yelled over at him. A walked over to him, he still wore his Daguerro knight uniform with a dark blue cloak over him and covering everything on his face but his mouth and chin.

A walked over to him, waving. He wore brown gauntlets with golden metal on the top, Kurt learned that that was a sign of the best knights of Daguerro.

"My prince, how are you?"

"I am well," Kurt said, blushing lightly, Kurt always felt strange around A. It was as if his body reacted to A as it should with women. "How are you?"

A was watching the village for a moment before answering him, "I am fine. Is your father here?" Kurt frowned, A always wanted to speak with King Burt. When the King and A were finished talking, A had to leave meaning Kurt could never speak with him.

"He is." Kurt walked over to their house, Finn ignored A's arrival and continued to watch Quinn who was waving and giggling at him. Kurt opened the door to his house and let A in.

Queen Carole stood at the stove making cabbage and potato soup for their lunch. When the door opened, she turned around surprised at the sight of A. "A, whatever are you doing here?" she quickly prepared a bowl of soup for the knight and a glass of pumpkin juice. A sat down at the table and quickly ate it up.

"I came to make sure you all were fine here." A said, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin. "I also bring news of the war." Kurt shifted in his seat, he hated hearing about the war. It made his mother cry and his father was always in a bad mood afterwards.

Carole cleared her throat, "I shall get King Burt." She left and a moment later, Kurt's father and Finn walked in.

"What news do you bring of Daguerro?" King Burt sat down across the table from A, who had his arm resting across the back of Kurt's chair. "Is it safe to return?"

"Unfortunately, no, my lord. The Gapra army is as strong as ever, they've conquered Farron – as you know," Finn coughed and the house went silent for a moment. "They've also taken over Coral, I've heard news that Gapra soldiers are taking mages and witches from their homes and beheading them in front of their children." Kurt's eyes widened, they would do that to people? What have they ever done wrong to the Gapra people?!

"And the children of Coral? What has happened to them?" King Burt asked, now holding his wife's hand to comfort her.

"We believe King David," that is the king of Gapra, Kurt almost never referred to him as 'King David', only King Puckerman. "Is taking the children and bringing them to Gapra to raise them to be Gapra soldiers in the army. Though he hates magic and any who wields the power to use magic, we're assuming he will use the children once they've grown up to be mages and witches and use them against us." Kurt shook with a sudden bout of fear, he didn't want the Daguerro knights to fight against their own mages and witches.

"He is preparing to raise these children to be Gapra soldiers in the war? How long does he expect this war to go on for?!" King Burt shouted, slamming his fist down on the wooden table.

"Until you surrender Daguerro over to him." The house went silent once more. "We have made it clear to him you will do no such thing, my lord."

"Good, I will never hand over my kingdom to that tyrant." King Burt stood up and paced around the space around the table. Queen Carole held a tissue to her nose, she was crying softly. Finn remained straight faced. "When do you believe it will be safe to go back?"

"Not for another few years, until King David either gives up or is killed." A said, Kurt put his head on the table, he wanted to return now! He didn't want to wait any longer. "I do bring good news, too," the four royals looked up at the knight, slight smiles on their faces. "The knights of Daguerro have managed to take back Daguerro castle from the Gapra soldiers."

"How is that even possible, last time you came you said that was the heaviest guarded place that the Gapra soldiers had taken over?" King Burt sat back down, staring at A with disbelief.

"I did say that – but a young knight, he's barely strong enough to carry a sword, instructed almost every knight fighting in Daguerro castle town and the palace to coordinate an attack so perfectly planned that there was no way the Gapra soldiers were expecting it." A licked his lips before continuing, "He was the head of the charge, I never caught his name but he was one of the bravest young men I had ever met."

"So our palace is now back in Daguerro hands?" The Queen asked in a tiny, quiet voice.

"Yes, my lady." She jumped up and went to the stove.

"We must celebrate! A, you can stay the night, can't you?" Kurt turned to A, hoping that his dream knight could stay.

"Yes, but I must leave early in the morning."

That night, they had a celebration in the village. There were delicious foods and rich wines, it was a splendid occasion.

A was being approached by every single woman of Lumina, Kurt did not know what the feeling he got everytime a woman would come up to A. He felt angry and hurt all at the same time… Could this be jealousy? Why would Kurt be jealous of the women that A spoke to?

"Please A, show us your swordsmanship!" Quinn giggled loudly, pulling on A's arm. Kurt bit his lip, he too wanted to see A use his sword. A finally took out his blade and showed all the women the tricks and skills he knew how to do with his sword. By the end of his little show, not only were the women blushing, but so was Kurt.

It was then that Kurt realised he preferred men over women, in a romantic and sexual way.

Over the seven years the royal family stayed in Lumina, A would come visit them to make sure everything was going fine. A was also the first person to discover Kurt's biggest secret, no not his sexuality… But the fact he could make things move without touching them, he could light things on fire with his mind and at one point, he froze a fish in the river with the palm of his hand.

"What's wrong with me, A?" Kurt asked at the age of fifteen. He and A sat on top of the roof of Kurt's home, they were watching the night sky.

"Nothing is wrong with you, my prince." A said, smiling at him. Kurt had grown to love A's beard over the years, even though he couldn't see the rest of A's face, the beard somehow made up for it.

"Then why can I do things without meaning to? I almost lit Quinn Fabray on fire the other day when she stepped through my garden and destroyed by strawberry crop." A laughed quietly at Kurt, "What? It's not funny!"

"I promise you, Kurt, what you're going through is completely normal."

"Oh really? Then why can't Finn do these things? Or you?" Kurt picked a weed growing on the roof, he stared at it for a moment before it was engulfed in flames. "See? There's something wrong with me!"

"Kurt, put the fire out and I'll explain something to you." Kurt raised his other hand and thought hard, seconds later, water trickled over the now burnt flower from his palm.

"Okay, what are you going to explain to me? Because I need to know what's going on with me, A! I'm not normal!" A pressed his finger to Kurt's lips.

"You _are _normal, Kurt, you're perfectly normal… You just, you're special." A began, "When you turned thirteen, you started to change, not just physically but mentally."

"A, no offence, but can you skip over the whole back story and just tell me—"

"You're a mage, Kurt."

Silence.

A sighed, "That is why you can do things with your mind without really thinking about it."

"But how? Neither of my parents…" Kurt couldn't believe his ears.

"Sometimes, a mage can be born from two non-magic folk. It's unclear why it happens, but I believe, one of your ancestors was a mage. The magic gene didn't appear in the descendants until you." A shrugged and laid back on the roof. "Of course, that is simply a theory of mine, if it's true or not I'll never know."

"So… I'm a mage. The type of human that the king of Gapra is brutally murdering. Great." Kurt stood up and threw the burnt weed off the roof, it landed on top of the wooden table in his yard. "What am I supposed to do with this-this magic if I can't even leave this God forsaken village?"

Kurt heard A stand up behind him and walk so they were standing side by side. Kurt saw A holding a book, he handed it to him. "A dear friend gave this to me long ago, I want you to have it."

Kurt opened the dusty old book and began flipping through the pages. "A spell book? Who do you know that would give you a spell book?" Kurt asked A but he never got an answer, A was staring off towards Daguerro.

"I must go, be safe, my prince." And with that, the knight left.

Kurt kept the book hidden away from his parents and brother, he did not want them to know he was a mage. It would make him more vulnerable. Right now, the prince had his book buried deep within his bag. A was once again in Lumina, this time, it wasn't to bring bad news. It was glorious news.

"The king of Gapra has been killed by a Daguerro knight." The knight said, smiling happily. The royal family rejoiced in happiness, after seven years of being stuck in Lumina, they were finally able to go home. Since King Puckerman was dead, the Gapra soldiers had since left Daguerro, there were a few Gapra camps scattered around the land but they were being closely watched.

They were now packing their things and preparing the horses for a month long ride back to their kingdom. A would stay and help them the entire trip.

Kurt could barely remember when they first arrived in Lumina, he had been so young. He did remember crying almost the entire time, God he had been so childish.

"Are you ready, my prince?" A asked him as they left their house for good. Kurt nodded, he felt somewhat sad leaving Lumina, but he was glad to be going back to the palace. He needed real food for once.

"Yes, I am ready." Unlike their escape to Lumina, Kurt would be riding his own horse rather than sharing one with A. Once saying goodbye to everyone in the village, they began the long trek back to Daguerro castle.

The month long journey was exhausting, the sun was beating down on them and Finn kept complaining. "Wow, some twenty-five year-old he is." Kurt said to A, who had to stifle laughter.

Entering Daguerro was like a slap in the face. Kurt imagined what Daguerro would look like now and it was nothing like he had expected. It was like they had just entered a waste land. Many knights and soldiers bowed their heads when they saw the royal family riding through the fields. A spoke to most of them. Kurt couldn't hear what he was saying but it sounded important.

"My prince, I do want to warn you… Do not be alarmed when you see what has happened to the castle town." A whispered to him as they entered it, Kurt swallowed heavily. He remembers the castle town being joyous and bright with flowers.

It had changed.

It was now a dark place, most houses had been burned to the ground or were just an empty shell.

More knights bowed down to them, greeting them with smiles and words such as "We're glad you're home."

Kurt was worried for the palace. Hopefully it had been saved from too much damage during the war, after all it had been saved in the early years of it. He was hoping his bedroom was still intact, he was hoping to sleep in his soft bed as soon as they return to the palace. "Once we return, we shall go see how each town is and begin rebuilding." King Burt said as they rode their horses up the path to the castle. "Kurt, Finn, I expect you two to help me in making the best decisions for the kingdom."

Kurt's plan to sleep all day was foiled. Damn.

"Of course, Father." Finn said, his older brother glanced back at him. "Kurt?"

"Yes, sorry, of course I will help." Kurt said, King Burt beamed and soon they were on castle grounds.

Daguerro Castle still stood perfectly. Not even a scratch on the walls. Kurt jumped off his horse and took his bag of things, last time he stood here he was ten. Now he is seventeen. It was… Bittersweet.

"My lord." A woman stepped towards him wearing a Robin Egg blue dress with brown boots, she had grey curly hair and tired hazel eyes. "It is good to have you back." Kurt stared at her for a moment, trying to remember her name. "I'm sure you do not remember me," She laughed under her breath. "You were young…"

"Maria." Kurt said, surprising his servant. "I-I, how have you been?"

"As well as one can be in a country filled with war." She laughed bitterly, "Here, let me carry your things back to your room. Which I promise you, has been taking care of dearly." She took his bags and Kurt told his parents he'd be in his room. Neither of them heard since they were talking to the Head Knight, Kurt could tell he was because of the hooded cap he wore and the golden addition to his gauntlets.

"You have grown into a handsome man, my lord." Maria said as they walked up several staircases and through long hallways to find their way to his room.

"Thank-you, seven years can do a lot to a person." Kurt trailed off, trying to remember the way to his room.

"Here is your room, my lord." She opened the door and Kurt was hit by an overwhelming feeling. "I am sure you are tired from your journey." She placed his bag on the long table in his room. "Do you wish to sleep?"

"I would but I must go to every town with Finn and my father to see the damage." Kurt sat down in a chair, "Maria, please sit. It's been seven years since we've spoken, I'm sure a lot has changed."

Maria pulled out a chair, "Much has changed, my lord. I lived in Villiers for most of the war, the palace and castle town were far too dangerous. Villiers of course was dangerous too, there were knights living in the village to protect us just in case the Gapra soldiers were to attack us."

"I am sorry." Kurt murmured, he could not even fathom how scary that must have felt. Never knowing when an army will come and attack where you live… "I am glad to see you've come out of the war unscathed."

"I have, I am thankful for that." She rested her hands on the table. "I was worried more for Blaine than myself, being a knight he was on the front lines—" Kurt's heart stopped.

It had been a long time since he heard that name.

Blaine.

His childhood best friend.

Kurt could picture a faint memory of a short, curly haired boy with a bright smile and warm hazel eyes. The boy who he had promised to be back as soon as possible to. Gosh, he definitely broke that.

How did that boy survive that night all those years ago? Blaine should have died, he was in the middle of an invasion and he survived?

He is glad Blaine is alive, he would had never expected Blaine to become a knight of Daguerro. He didn't seem like the type when they were children.

"—the king of Gapra." Kurt blinked, Maria was still talking about Blaine.

"Sorry, what was that Maria? I spaced out for a moment." Maria grinned at him and repeated herself.

"Rather than being worried for myself, I was worried for Blaine. When he was thirteen, he was the mastermind behind getting back the palace from the Gapra soldiers." Kurt could remember A telling them about a young knight, the youngest he had ever seen, fighting to get the castle back… That was Blaine? "When he was a bit older, around fourteen he was hired as the Captain of the Knights of Daguerro. He was only fourteen and he was the Captain of the Knights of Daguerro! He came to tell me one day and I burst into tears… My little boy was the captain in a… In a war." Blaine was the captain? He must be good with a sword. "His troop was the troop that went into Gapra Castle and captured the king, Blaine… Blaine killed the king of Gapra."

Hold up.

Blaine killed King David Puckerman? His best friend from childhood, that little boy killed King Puckerman? "Since we heard you and your family were coming back to Daguerro, the knights are planning an Eternal Harvest."

Kurt could faintly recall going to one when he was younger. The Eternal Harvest is a kingdom wide event where they all eat different types of foods from the different towns and they celebrate the kingdom's pride. It is also a celebration where knights, like A, are given either a bronze, silver or gold add-on to their gauntlet. Showing power, knowledge and strength. Bronze are for minor knights, all knights are given these when they are given the title of knight. Silver, are for people who have great strength and who have been through a lot. It shows their experience and their wit, overall a brilliant knight. And gold is only given to a chosen few who have completed great feats and the bravest knights in all of Daguerro. Kurt only knows of three knights that wear golden gauntlets, his father, the head knight and A.

"Blaine is very excited for the Eternal Harvest, I have a hunch he is being given his golden gauntlets. He was given his silver gauntlets after he took back the castle, he was the youngest to ever receive the silver." Kurt was astonished. Blaine had done so much for the war, and he's just been away in a village doing nothing.

"I would have never expected Blaine to be a knight let alone a good one." Kurt took a fresh apple from the bowl on the table.

"I had the same thoughts, my lord. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you're back and you're okay." Kurt tensed, how would he react seeing Blaine after so long? Talking about him isn't too bad, but seeing him? "I am not sure, however, where my son is at the moment. Sometimes he goes off to talk to knights around the kingdom. I know he'll be back this week for the Eternal Harvest."

There was a knock at the door and Finn opened it, "Kurt, we're going to head out to the towns now. Come on." Kurt groaned internally and bid goodbye to Maria, he followed his older brother through the castle and to the stables once more where their horses were. King Burt sat upon his horse, the Head Knight stood beside him preparing to get on his own horse.

"Finn, Kurt, this is the Head Knight Samuel Evans." The Head Knight was taller than Kurt but shorter than Finn, he had bright blond hair and a strong build.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my lords." Samuel said, "You can call me Sam if you wish." Finn got on his horse without saying hello the knight. Kurt walked up to him and shook his hand before grabbing his horse. "The only towns we are not to visit are Farron and Coral, since they have been completely destroyed with no way to rebuild. When I saw both towns, there was nothing left besides the townspeople with no homes." Sam said, riding in front of them all. "Estheim, Villiers and Kreiss have only lost a few and they're rebuilding as we speak."

"That is good." His father and Samuel began chatting about how much money will go into rebuilding the entire kingdom. God, Kurt wished he was ten again and did not have to deal with being a figure of authority. It's not that he doesn't care about rebuilding Daguerro but he'd rather be sitting in the castle with his mother. Well, this is his life now. He needs to get over it.

The four on horseback entered the town of Kreiss, a town resting at the bottom of the dormant volcano Gulug. Kurt was surprised to see how the town was actually looking like nothing had ever happened there.

During their visit to Kreiss, Kurt pretty much ignored everything his father and brother said to him. He did hear that his father would put in a few hundred dollars to repair the tiny things that needed fixing. The Kreiss townspeople cheered when they saw the royal family and welcomed them back. Kurt was given a fire flower, an orange daisy that smelt of a burning fire. It wasn't the most attractive flower, but it was sweet, he placed it under his horse's reins.

The next village they went to was Estheim, the town of Estheim had a large clock tower sitting in the middle. Time was an important thing to the Estheim townspeople, Kurt never understood why. When he was a child, he would go there for the Festival of Time, a festival held by the Estheim people, celebrating time. He would have to read up on it because he still doesn't understand it.

Estheim's damage was done to the shops and the clock tower itself. The king promised the mayor more money than he gave the mayor of Kreiss, since there is more damage. Kurt jumped off his horse in Estheim and walked over to look at the goods in the market. He found a small wooden clock, coloured with green and fuchsia. "How much is this clock?" Kurt asked the shop owner, a small woman with brown hair, she had crystal blue eyes and she was skinny to the bone.

"I-It is free for you, my lord." She bowed her head slightly, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Please, how much? I do not take things for free, especially since it appears you worked hard on this." Kurt smiled and she widened her eyes, he supposed she thought he would take it and walk away.

"I-It's five dollars, my lord." She bowed her head again. Kurt reached into his pocket and gave her five coins. "Thank-you, my lord."

"What is your name?" Kurt wondered, she blushed lightly.

"M-Marley, Marley Rose."

"Thank-you, Marley." He left her stand and went back to his horse.

"What is that?" Finn said in disgust when he saw the clock Kurt had bought.

"One of the Estheim shop people made it. I bought it to help her shop out, it's also a beautiful piece of art." Kurt put the clock in his pocket.

"Okay." Finn continued to look at him strangely but Kurt said nothing about it. Finn most likely thought Kurt was being weird by buying something from a commoner.

"Let's head out to Villiers, the sun is already setting." His father said, and they left Estheim. By the time they reached Villiers, it was dark out. "It is getting too late, we should head back to the castle and come here tomorrow." Sam and Finn agreed with his father and they turned their horses around. "Kurt? Are you coming?"

"I'll head into Villiers and see what the damage is. There's no use in all of us coming tomorrow." Kurt said, he wanted to get this over with, he didn't want to go back tomorrow.

"Would you like me to come with you, my lord?" wondered the head knight.

"No it is fine." Kurt turned on his horse and headed through the path passing through the Gran River.

The path to Villiers had changed over the years. There were torches attached to the mountain sides, lighting up the path for night travellers. Kurt felt something twist in his gut. He was near his and Blaine's spot, the place where they always went as children. He felt the need to go and see if the spot was still there after the war. So he did. The path had changed, now before you get to the area near the spot, there was a metal gate.

_I wonder if my horse can jump over it… _Kurt thought to himself. _No, I shouldn't. I do not want to risk hurting her. _Kurt jumped off of his horse and approached the gate. He began to climb over the gate, when he landed on the other side, he heard something behind him. Because it was night, Kurt could barely see two feet in front of him even with the torches.

"Who goes there?" the person asked, Kurt scoffed, were they trying to be the authority?

"Excuse me?" he put his hand on his hip, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me, who are you?" the person stepped closer, but Kurt still couldn't make out who they were.

"Kurt Hummel, prince of Daguerro." Kurt folded his arms in front of him, smirking when the person froze in their shoes. That's right, you're talking to the prince of Daguerro.

"…Kurt?" the person finally came into his sight. It was a man, and he was a Daguerro knight.

"Yes, now if you'd excuse me." Kurt began to walk past them, but the man put his hand on his shoulder stopping him. "What are you doing?"

"Do you really not recognise me?" the man laughed, Kurt blinked and shook his head. "You always were a bit oblivious." Kurt gaped at him.

"Who are you to say I'm oblivious, I don't even know you!" Kurt tried to push past him but the knight wouldn't let him. "Let me go!"

"Kurt!" The knight shouted scaring the prince. "It's me." The man smiled, Kurt continued to stare but it didn't click. The man started to laugh, "Oh Gods, Kurt, it's me, Blaine!" Kurt took a step back. Blaine… That couldn't be Blaine. He wasn't short, or little anymore, his hair was practically cut off.

"Oh." Was all Kurt said, Blaine grabbed Kurt by the hand and pulled them over to a torch. Kurt could finally see Blaine's face clearly and… Oh lord. Blaine was… Well, Blaine was gorgeous.

His jaw was defined, his eyes were still the warm hazel they used to be, his curls were cut short and they were no longer in his eyes. Blaine wore a Daguerro knight's uniform and his muscles were filling out the uniform well. And of course, there were the silver add-ons to Blaine's gauntlets. Kurt was awestruck in how well puberty changed Blaine.

"Oh? I certainly hope that's a good 'oh'." Blaine chuckled.

"Y-Yes, it's a good 'oh'." Kurt told him, "I'm surprised to see you here. Your mother said you'd be home sometime this week, not today." Blaine shrugged.

"I had decided to head back to the castle to begin preparing for the Eternal Harvest. I was also planning on coming to visit you." Blaine scuffed his boot in the grass, "Where were you headed?"

"I…" Kurt didn't want to tell Blaine he was heading to their spot, it's embarrassing. "I was going to see how Villiers was doing. I wanted to see what the damage was."

Blaine appeared to be surprised but didn't say why. "I could go with you. You shouldn't be alone at night in a kingdom that just finished a war. There might be Gapra soldiers wandering around."

"I'm not a child." Kurt pursed his lips.

"I never said you were, I said you shouldn't be alone. You're the prince of Daguerro, I'm sure there are Gapra soldiers itching to get their hands on you." Kurt knew Blaine was right. "So, Villiers?" Blaine threw his hand behind his back with his thumb out in the direction of the town of Villiers. Kurt wondered for a moment, it was late, would the townspeople even be awake?

"Maybe tomorrow… It is late." Kurt turned around to climb back over the gate and Blaine started to chuckle. "What?"

"Kurt, I have the key, you don't have to climb over it." Blaine took out a key chain and unlocked the gate, pushing it open with his hand. Kurt sniffed and walked away, Blaine watched him as he went over to his horse.

"If you're coming with me, don't just stand there watching me." Kurt yelled from his horse. Blaine locked the gate and ran over. "Where's your horse?"

"Don't have one." Blaine simply said and he grabbed the Kurt's horse reins.

"What are you doing?"

"Walking your horse." Blaine was saying these things like they were the most obvious things in the world. "Is it weird being back?" Oh god, Blaine was starting small talk.

Kurt decided to play along, "A bit. After living in a village that you have to do everything on your own for seven years, it's hard to get used to people doing things for you again."

"I can't imagine." Blaine said, Kurt rolled his eyes, he heard the sarcasm. "Daguerro was a scary place while you were gone. That night in the castle when we were ten was the least scary thing that happened to me in the war."

"Wouldn't it be the scariest? You were ten." Kurt could barely make out Daguerro castle town now.

"Sure it was scary but fighting a Gapra soldier face to face at age thirteen, trying to get back your castle was… Terrifying. Not to mention infiltrating Gapra palace and killing the king." Blaine looked up at him as they walked. "So yeah, that night wasn't that scary compared to what I've been through in seven years."

Kurt was silent. He stared at the head of his horse, she was a brown horse with a black mane.

"Sometimes it calmed down. I didn't get much rest though, the last time I had a good sleep was… Gosh, I can't even remember." Kurt remained quiet. "Kurt?" Kurt hummed quietly in response. "I'm glad you're back."

"I am too."

After about half an hour of no talking whatsoever, the two arrived back at the castle. Kurt hopped off the horse and was face to face with Blaine. "Come on, I'll bring you to your room." Blaine offered, Kurt followed him because he still couldn't remember the path to his chambers.

Kurt tried his hardest to not let his eyes drift down to look at Blaine's bottom. What can he say? He prefers the same gender and his childhood best friend was… Well, exceptionally good looking.

"Here's your room, my lord." Blaine opened the door and let Kurt in. Kurt turned to say good night to Blaine, who stood in the doorway.

"Good night, Blaine." Kurt was about to close his door when Blaine slapped his hand on the wooden door.

"I want you to know that after we took back the castle, some of the knights wanted to stay in the royal chambers. Some of them did," Kurt's eyes bugged out of his head, someone was sleeping in his room! Probably some dirty, smelly, sweaty, disgusting—"I, uh, I slept in your room to make sure no one else would. I didn't want some stranger sleeping here. I kept everything the same, I made sure it was extra clean before you came back." Blaine's cheeks were pink and his eyes were casted down.

"Th-Thank-you." Kurt bit his lip.

"Also, uh, since there's going to an Eternal Harvest next week, I'll be busy preparing that, so we won't see each other that much." Blaine lamented, "So, I just wanted to say that… I really missed you, Kurt."

Kurt wet his lips and muttered, "I missed you too." Blaine grinned and came in to his room to hug him. Kurt went stiff when Blaine's arms went around him, holding him tight against his body. Kurt could feel every muscle of Blaine's, it made him feel strange inside. Kurt put his arms around Blaine, his face fit perfectly between Blaine's neck and his shoulder. Blaine pulling away, grinning and hazels sparkling.

"Good night, Kurt, sweet dreams." Blaine grabbed the door knob and closed it. Leaving Kurt alone in his room for the first time since he came back to Daguerro.

Kurt changed his expensive red tunic with the jewels for a pair of white loose pants and a loose white shirt. He blew out the candelabras and his room faded to pitch black.

He crawled under his blanket and rested his head on his pillow, he felt his eyelids begin to droop.

He was glad he was home.

He was glad he wouldn't have to see Blaine much this week, he had to teach his mind that Blaine was definitely _not _attractive. He was just…

Kurt sighed.

He was just handsome.

And maybe a bit attractive.

* * *

**Next Chapter: **_Eternal Harvest_—it is time for the Eternal Harvest, an event celebrating Daguerro and every town within the kingdom. It is also a time to reward knights with a either bronze, silver or golden add-on for their gauntlets. Right before the gauntlet ceremony, Kurt disappears into the palace, the prince is found hours later leaving the castle grounds on horseback. Blaine sees, and follows.  
_"What are you looking at?"  
"You missed my gauntlet ceremony."  
"I-I… I am so sorry."  
"I forgive you, you've got a lot on your mind."  
"Are you sure you want to go with me?"  
"Of course I am, I can't just let you go and get yourself killed." _

**End Authors Note: **Thank-you for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you thought of it! Really guys, please review.


	4. Chapter Three: Eternal Harvest

**Title: **Melodies of Life

**Summary: **"Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance.

**Warnings: **Foul language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you may recognise within this story.

**Authors Note: **You guys have no idea how tired I am. It's 2am and I really wanted to finish this chapter before I slept, I kept myself awake by watching re-runs of _Roseanne _and reading the Wikipedia page for the sitcom. I learned a lot!

**Song: **The song I based this chapter off of is found on YouTube by the name of "Final Fantasy IX – Eternal Harvest" by FFMusicStation. This song really captures the festival theme of this chapter.

* * *

Chapter Three: Eternal Harvest

* * *

Kurt bit into a sausage, slowly chewing it and then swallowing. He was listening to his father, mother and brother talk about the kingdom and Gapra, and blah, blah, blah.

He wished he ate his breakfast in his room, he hated being forced to be with his family. He was sick and tired of them. He wanted to be on his own for once. They never allowed that though, his parents always wanted him and Finn to be with them. Not like Finn cared, he loved to be with the king and queen. For whatever reason, Kurt would never know.

"My lord, would you like some more juice?" Maria asked from his side, Kurt nodded and she poured more orange juice into his glass. Kurt took a drink and then finished his breakfast.

"You ate that quickly, Kurt." King Burt said from the head of the table. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Kurt didn't want to tell his family he didn't want to spend time with him but he didn't know what to say.

"Excuse me, your majesty, but Kurt had been speaking to me earlier about going to some of the towns around Daguerro to promote the upcoming harvest." Maria said, her voice was shaking, she was obviously nervous speaking directly to the king.

"Is that true, Kurt?" King Burt took a drink from his goblet of juice.

Kurt glanced over at Maria who mouthed 'yes'. "U-Uh, yes, father. I haven't been to an Eternal Harvest since I was a child, I want this one to be as amazing as I remember it."

"Well, if you plan to go to every town, you should leave now. Also, bring a knight with you." His father took a large amount of bacon into his mouth.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Why must I bring a knight along? Father, you know how well I am at archery."

"Kurt, archery will not protect you if you are attacked by a Gapra soldier with a sword." King Burt said, swallowing his food. "Bring that boy with you, the one who killed King David."

"Blaine?" Kurt stood up, shocked that his father would even suggest Blaine.

"Yes, Blaine, he needs a break from doing all his good work. I'm sure he needs to rest from seven years of saving our kingdom." Kurt saw Maria beam at how King Burt was praising her son.

"Okay." Kurt took one more swig from his goblet of juice. "I'll be back at nightfall." Kurt left the dining room, making sure to thank Maria discreetly.

He didn't actually plan to go to the knight's quarters to see Blaine, he simply wanted to go be by himself. As he walked down the long corridors of the palace, he saw the one person he did not want to see!

"Kurt!" Blaine said leaving a room with a piece of bacon in his hand. "How are you?" Blaine asked, Kurt sighed, he had been trying to avoid the captain because honestly Blaine was somewhat distracting. The other day when Kurt was in the castle town surveying some of the damage down to the castle town with his father and Finn. Blaine had been lifting some tables up with some other knights preparing for the Eternal Harvest. Kurt's eyes lingered on Blaine's ripping muscles too long, he had to go excuse himself for a few moments afterwards.

Blinking back into reality, Kurt replied to the captain. "Alright, I suppose." Blaine frowned for a split second but then he was back to grinning from ear to ear.

"I heard from some knights in my troop that the Gorman troupe is coming to the castle town for the Eternal Harvest." Kurt raised his eyebrow, "Oh, you might have forgotten about them... But, they were that circus group that would come to Daguerro castle town every time there was a festival or an Eternal harvest." Blaine rubbed the back of his neck, "When we were kids we would go watch the Rosa Sisters dance, the twins who were quite talented in acrobatics." Kurt pictured to girls about his and Blaine's age with red hair.

"Yes, I remember them now." Blaine grinned even greater, Kurt clenched his teeth, that stupid smile. "So they're coming to the Eternal Harvest?"

"Yeah, I'm super excited to see them again." Blaine put his hand around Kurt's hip, startling the prince, and he pushed him over against the wall.

"Blaine, what are you—" All of a sudden a sea of knights ran down the corridor they stood in, shouting and bumping into the prince and captain. Kurt looked up, Blaine's face was inches from his. Blaine's hazel orbs weren't facing him, they were on the knights running past them. Blaine's hands were on both of his hips and his chest was pressed against Kurt's. A minute later, there were only a few nights straggling in the hall, Blaine let go of Kurt and stepped away. "What was that about?"

"Every morning around this time the kitchens open up for the knights. A lot of knights haven't eaten properly since before the war, so they're really excited." Blaine was about to say more but Finn strolled past them.

"Hey Blaine, it's cool that you're going to all the towns with Kurt to promote the Eternal Harvest." Blaine's brow furrowed in confusion at Finn's words, "He tried to convince father that he could go on his own but father insisted you go with him."

"It's my pleasure." Blaine bowed his head to the older prince, Kurt was thankful Blaine was playing along. "I wouldn't want him wandering the kingdom alone." Blaine elbowed Kurt lightly in the side, receiving a glare from the paler man.

"Well, I better be going. A few knights and I are practising our sword skills for the harvest." Finn started to leave before turning around, "Blaine will you be taking part in the sword fights?"

Blaine shrugged, "Maybe. If I'm feeling up to it."

"I cannot believe my ears." Another knight Kurt didn't recognise approached them, Kurt saw Blaine tense. "Little Blaine Anderson, not feeling up to fight the many knights of Daguerro? For shame." The knight who had joined them in the corridor had spiked hair and he only wore bronze add-ons to his gauntlets. And he was talking like he was superior to Blaine? "Oh, is this Prince Kurt?" The knight asked, stepping towards him.

"Yes, this is Prince Kurt." Blaine mumbled. "He and I were actually about to head out to promote the harvest." Kurt stared at the knight, the knight was good-looking, but _not as attractive as Blaine _his mind reminded him.

"It is a pleasure, my lord," the knight took Kurt's hand and, oh no, he kissed the top of it. Kurt's cheeks turned red. "My name is Sebastian, my lord."

"Nice to meet you." Kurt whispered, his eyes avoiding Sebastian's.

"Come, Kurt, we should get going if we want to go to all of the towns." Blaine said, interrupting Sebastian and Kurt's moment.

"Oh? You're leaving so soon? Perhaps I can come along, the prince can never have too many knights protecting him." Sebastian had this smirk on his face as he faced Blaine, Kurt saw the visible discomfort his former best friend had. "Would that be fine, my lord?"

"Actually," Kurt began, "I would feel safer with a knight who is about to receive his golden gauntlets than a knight who hasn't even received his silver." Finn's eyes almost popped out his head at the way Kurt spoke to this knight. Sebastian's jaw went slack. "If I had been here when you were joined into the Daguerro knights, I would have never allowed it. Daguerro knights are compassionate, admirable, polite and a Daguerro knight should never, _never _be bad-mannered to their superiors."

"Who's my superior? Little Blaine over here?" Sebastian jerked his head towards Blaine, Kurt gave the cheeky knight a cold stare.

"Next time you rid the castle of Gapra soldiers and return it to the Daguerro kingdom at the age of thirteen. You can be the superior." Kurt turned on his heel and left the three gaping at the prince. After a moment of shock, Blaine bid goodbye to Finn, ignored Sebastian and ran after Kurt.

He found Kurt in his chambers, picking up a grape from the bowl on the table.

Blaine knocked on the door, "May I enter?"

"Yes." Blaine entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"I wish to apologise for Sebastian, Kurt, he's uh… He's a handful." Blaine said awkwardly.

"It is not your fault Samuel allowed an incompetent, rude, ill-mannered—" Blaine started laughing in the middle of Kurt's tirade. The prince scowled, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Kurt didn't look convinced, "Fine. I was just thinking that you're very passionate about the knights of Daguerro. When we were children you refused to even look at a sword let alone pick one up."

"I've changed." Kurt said, Blaine pouted but Kurt didn't see.

"So, please enlighten me as to why Finn believes I am going town to town with you to promote the harvest?" Blaine joined Kurt at the table and took a grape.

Kurt said nothing. Blaine stared at him as he chewed the fruit, something had changed in these seven years to make Kurt so… Different. "Since you told people I was going to be with you all day, I can't go anywhere because they'll think we're not doing our duties."

"I was just going to stay in my chambers all day and read." Kurt made a mental note to smack himself in the face, Blaine will ask what he'll be reading and Kurt cannot tell Blaine he's reading a book of spells.

"That's not very entertaining, Kurt." Blaine said, sitting down in a chair, "I thought you would go explore the kingdom on your own – be rebellious."

"No." Kurt went over to his bed and took the book out from under his sheets and began to read.

"What should I do all day if you're just going to stay in here in read?" Blaine wondered, Kurt ignored him and sat on his bed.

"I don't know." Kurt turned the page and was enthralled in the spells. Most spells were thought in the mind rather than saying them out loud. The more complicated spells, such as the spell of death and life, that spell could take hours to do.

The page the prince was on at this moment was a page full of healing spells, the one he was reading right now was for deep cuts and terrible burns. Kurt had been so interested in this spell that he didn't notice Blaine coming towards him.

"What are you reading?" Kurt screamed and slammed the book shut, sliding it under his bed. "Whoa. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kurt stood up and opened his bedroom door, "If you're that bored we'll go to all the towns to promote this stupid harvest." Kurt left the room without waiting for Blaine, he missed the expression of hurt on Blaine's face.

When Blaine finally joined Kurt at the stables, Blaine had since equipped his sword and shield, Kurt was wearing a quiver and a bow. "Where are you going, Captain?" a knight asked Blaine as he prepared his horse.

"To all the towns and villages with the prince to promote the," Blaine's voice cracked, "the harvest."

"How noble of you, Captain, to go with the prince." Kurt heard the attitude in this knight's tone. What was wrong with the knights working under Blaine? They all sounded piggish.

Blaine took the reins from the knight's hands and took over preparing his horse.

"Touchy, are we?" the knight laughed, a few others around began to chuckle.

"Does the Captain need his diaper changed?" And then Kurt realised it. The reason they were all rude to Blaine, was because he was only seventeen.

Kurt watched Blaine stand there silently, letting the knights make fun.

"I do certainly hope that we all get our silver gauntlets while the king takes away our Captain's," Another said, "he doesn't deserve a silver gauntlet – nor does he deserve to be a knight." That was the last straw. Kurt discreetly took the bow off and pulled an arrow from his quiver. He pointed the arrow at the knight who said Blaine should have his silver taken away. He shot the arrow at the knight's stomach.

The knights stopped laughing when they saw the arrow in the knight's stomach. It didn't go too far because of his chain maille, but it'll leave a mark. Blaine turned and saw Kurt holding his bow, "How dare you speak to the Captain of the Knights of Daguerro like that?" Kurt walked towards them, his body was buzzing. "You all make fun and laugh at him but when was the last time you received the silver add-ons at the age of thirteen? How old are all of you, mid-twenties and early thirties?" Kurt hissed, "You!" He said to the knight who he shot, "How old are you?" The knight shook his head and kept quiet. "Answer your prince when he is speaking to you!" Kurt gripped the arrow lodged into his stomach.

"T-Thirty two, my lord." The knight croaked.

"I see, and you've never received your silver gauntlets?" The knight said nothing so Kurt shook the arrow.

"N-NO, my lord!"

"As I thought." He let go of the arrow, "You are all pitiful, you know that, right? First of all, you're a group of knights of Daguerro. The troop that took over Gapra castle and then came back with the news that you're captain killed the king. The king who was sending hundreds of soldiers here every day to try and kill all of you!"

The knights hung their heads down in shame. "You're all jealous that a young man is a better swordsman than all of you. Well, get over it. Blaine has talent, a talent that saved you and returned the royal family to Daguerro. If I ever hear any of you saying _anything _to Blaine that could be considered derogatory, I will make sure that none of you fight for the kingdom again." Kurt pulled the arrow from the knight's stomach and went over to his horse and hopped on. "Also, I will be telling the king that a few of you slept in the royal chambers while we were gone." Kurt kicked the sides of his horse and galloped away. Blaine smirked and got on his own horse and followed after him.

"Kurt!" Blaine called after him, Kurt didn't slow down until he was out of the castle town.

"What?" he snapped.

"Thank-you, for that. They never… They always make fun of me because I'm seventeen." Blaine and Kurt's horses trotted beside each other as they rode through the fields.

"They're idiots." Kurt said, they were headed in the direction of the forest town of Ballad, "I do not plan to go to every town, if that is what you're thinking. I just want to leave the castle and my suffocating family."

"Hey, they're not that bad." Blaine said, they stopped their horses before entering the forest. "And well where do you want to go then? I have to stay with you, if something happens to you and I'm not there I'll be in a lot of trouble."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen to me, I have my bow and arrows and I'm on horseback."

"You'd be surprised what can happen." Kurt rolled his eyes again and decided to get Blaine off his back. The kingdom was safe now, there were no Gapra soldiers around and if it were Finn here instead of him he could be without a knight. "Don't even think about getting away, Kurt."

The rest of the day, Kurt was forced to be with Blaine. They ended up going to Estheim, they ate at one of the shops. Kurt tried to not ogle Blaine when the captain took off the top of his white long sleeved shirt underneath his tunic because of the hot Daguerro sun. Blaine's biceps were… _No, stop thinking about them, Kurt, _the prince thought to himself.

It was the day before the Eternal Harvest, he was sitting in the throne room with Finn and his parents. Samuel was telling them what will be going on during the Eternal Harvest. They had gone through when all the competitions will take place; from the sword fighting, to the horse races and the archery. "Kurt, would you like to take part in the archery event?" King Burt asked, putting down a piece of paper with the events written on it.

"No thank-you." The king grumbled at Kurt's lack of involvement in the harvest.

"Come on, Kurt, Finn is signed up for the sword fights." Queen Carole sat from her throne beside his father's. "I think the archery competition would be good for you."

"No thank-you," Kurt repeated.

"_Kurt_." King Burt warned, "At least take part in one thing."

"I'll take place in watching the competitions, I do not like getting my hands dirty or getting my clothes dirty." Kurt picked at his nails.

"Well," Samuel cleared his throat, "After the food eating contests in Estheim, the gauntlet ceremony takes place in the town square." Samuel broke the tension in the room.

"Which knights are getting their new gauntlets?" wondered the king.

"Most of the knights who helped Captain Anderson infiltrate Gapra castle will be getting their silver gauntlets. A few knights who saved Daguerro citizens will be getting their silver and of course, Captain Anderson will be getting his golden gauntlets." Samuel grinned slightly at the end of his sentence. "Blaine is the youngest to ever get the golden gauntlets. All the knights his age have bronze gauntlets."

"Well, he's definitely earned them." King Burt took a drink from a goblet sitting on the armrest of his throne. "After the ceremony, I want him to sit at the royal table with us. You too, Samuel."

"Thank-you, my lord, I will let Blaine know." Samuel bowed his head and left the throne room.

"Ah, we should head to bed." King Burt said, standing up with Queen Carole. "As should you two. Tomorrow will be a long day, I can assure you that." The king and queen left the throne room, leaving the two princes.

"I cannot believe that little kid you used to play with is getting the golden add-on." Finn stood up from his throne. "He isn't even participating in the sword fighting."

"He doesn't need to be in them," Kurt left the throne room quickly, he really didn't want to think about Blaine right now. Blaine's been really bothering him. He's been trying to avoid the captain but Blaine keeps finding him and searching for reasons for them to spend time together. He knew Blaine wanted to be best friends again, like they had been during childhood – but things have changed now.

Kurt was no longer a naïve young prince who dreamt of exploring every inch of his kingdom. Blaine obviously didn't understand that.

Kurt closed his bedroom door behind him, locking it and resting against it. He held his hand up, sparks of fire shot from his palm and lit the candelabras. He went into his bathroom, his bath was prepared by Maria, the smell of flowers and cinnamon filled the room. He took off his clothes and slid into the warm water. He rested his head against the wood and closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the water soothe his aching mind and body. After half an hour of sitting in a bath of warm water, it began to cool, making Kurt realise he had to bathe before it became ice cold.

Kurt got out of the tub and dried himself, he walked back into his room with the towel around his waist. He took out his pyjamas and changed into them, he blew out the candelabra and crawled under his bed sheets.

Tomorrow would be exhausting.

During the middle of the night, the sleeping prince became distressed. He rolled around his bed anxiously, his heart pounding and his hands sweating. His eyes rolled rapidly in his head. He dreamt of a terrifying place, the skies were dark and there was no ground. He felt like he had been here before, but of course he had never been.

_"Kurt!" the prince turned around, there stood A. His hood was off, but his face was blurred so Kurt couldn't see it. "The time has come for you to awaken." _

_"What? What in the world are you talking about? Where are we?" Kurt asked, stepping towards the knight of Daguerro. _

_"There isn't time to explain, my prince, you must know that the moment will come when you learn where or what this land is." A stepped towards him, drawing his sword and shield. "For now, rest, I will see you soon." _

_"A! How am I supposed to rest when you're being so cryptic?" Kurt said, the knight chuckled and said nothing. "A?!" Kurt growled, pushing at him, A went still, his eyes fixed on something behind Kurt. Kurt turned around, he saw something standing in the shadows, it appeared to be a man. "Who is that—?" _

_"An evil creature, a creature who you may never meet." A stepped in front of Kurt, separating Kurt from the creature. "Unfortunately, I know you shall." _

_"A, stop it!" Kurt smacked at the knight, "Tell me who that is!" _

_"If I could, I would, my prince. You must figure some things out, on your own." A vanished before his eyes. Leaving him and the creature alone. _

_"It's nice to see you're alive, Hummel." _

Kurt sat up in his bed screaming, his heart was about to leap out of his chest. The door to his bedroom swung open and Maria ran in, dropping his breakfast to the floor and running to his aid.

"My lord, what is wrong?" She asked, running from the bed to get him a cold wash cloth to wipe the sweat covering his body.

Kurt panted lightly, "I-I had a terrible dream."

"Are you fine now, my lord? Shall I call in your parents?" She asked, wiping his face with the cold cloth.

"I think I am fine, thank-you, Maria." Kurt pushed his blankets off and stood up, "I am sorry I startled you." Kurt saw the breakfast on the floor, the prince suddenly felt extremely guilty.

"I will go get you another breakfast, my lord." Maria said, placing the cold cloth on the table.

"Oh, Maria, you do not need to do that. I'll go to the kitchen myself." Kurt helped her clean up the food and she left. Kurt quickly got changed into a green tunic with brown pants underneath and boots. He left his room after styling his hair and was off to the kitchens.

The palace kitchens were loud and busy, the cooks were quickly making breakfast for all the knights and the royals and they were also busy preparing Daguerro castle delicacies for the harvest.

"Someone is hungry today." The cook, Emma, giggled.

"I dropped my breakfast on the floor, so I need a new one." He said, smiling at her.

"Well, you're lucky, I have one right here!" The skinny, small framed woman handed it to him.

"Thank-you, so much Emma." Kurt took it and went back to his room. When he gets to his room, he sees Blaine standing at the door dressed up in the formal Daguerro knight uniform. The formal one was simply the blue tunic but with a white cloak on the back and a golden lion on the back. "Blaine?"

"Oh, Kurt!" Blaine grinned, "I thought I missed you before you went to Villiers for the swim meet."

"No, I was just getting my breakfast." Kurt opened his door and Blaine followed him in. "What did you need?"

"I just wanted to say good morning to you before the harvest. We won't see each other a lot today or tomorrow for that matter." Blaine blushed for whatever reason Kurt didn't know.

"Okay." Kurt sat down and began to eat his breakfast. "Good morning."

Blaine fiddled with the fabric of his tunic for a second before looking up Kurt, "So, um, are you going to be there for the gauntlet ceremony?"

Kurt swallowed a bite of his poached egg, "Yes. Why?"

"I was only wondering," Blaine stood up, "I'll see you there, then."

"Okay." Kurt went back to his breakfast, he felt Blaine's gaze fixed on him, it was like Blaine was waiting for him to say something. Blaine sighed in defeat and left the room. Kurt finished his breakfast of poached eggs, bacon, toast and orange slices.

An hour later, the royal family and Samuel headed to Villiers for a special water event called the Swim Spin. The contestants wear a special swim suit with a mask that allows them to breathe under water for long periods of time. They must swim through twelve striped hoops and the swimmer with the best time wins the golden shell from the legendary fish, the Nautilus.

A woman named Tina won. Her time was a minute less compared to everyone elses. They also ate a few Villiers foods. Kurt had tried a pancake ball for the first time, it was a sweet, cinnamon flavoured ball, almost like a donut. Kurt also tried a noodle dish, the noodles were spicy and savoury.

The royal family rode off to the town of Ballad for the archery games. King Burt attempted to get Kurt to join the games, Kurt refused for the third and last time. The king groaned and mumbled something about being glad Finn was the heir. Kurt was actually interested in the archery portion of the harvest, he knew he could beat any of the archers who were competing. One boy, he was probably ten or eleven, didn't even hit the target. Kurt felt bad for the boy. The winner of the archery competition, was a teenage girl with ginger hair.

Ballad's food wasn't the best food Kurt had ever tried, the pork chops Kurt tried were bland and dry. The plum muffin he tried was also dry and hard.

The last town they went to, since the sun had begun to fall from its spot in the sky, was Estheim for the sword fights. This was the event Kurt was least looking forward to, he didn't understand the appeal of watching men get all sweaty in the sun…. And… Maybe Kurt does see the appeal. Kurt sat down in the royal booth and saw his brother talking to Samuel where the contestants were getting ready.

"Oh look, Blaine is competing." Queen Carole pointed out to her son, Kurt looked over the railing of the royal booth and saw Blaine standing in the doorway of the contestant's tent. Blaine wore his blue tunic with armor over it, he had his sword and shield drawn and a look of determination on his face.

"Is he mad?" Kurt shouted.

"Calm down, Kurt, he is a man who can make his own choices." Queen Carole pulled on Kurt's arm and forced him to sit down. Kurt couldn't just let the captain of Daguerro risk his life for a stupid sword fight. Kurt stood up excusing himself and left the royal booth to see Blaine in the contestant tent.

"Prince Kurt, to what do we owe this pleasure?" A knight who was standing in front of the tent greeted him. "Do you too want to join the competition, my lord?"

"No, I wish to speak with…" Kurt didn't want to say Blaine, "My brother." The knight nodded and opened the tent for Kurt to go in. There were many knights in this tent, many wore bronze gauntlets, one of the awards for winning this event is to get the higher gauntlet. All of these knights enter hoping to win the silver gauntlets.

"Prince Kurt!" One of the knight's said, bowing his head, the others did as well. "Looking for Prince Finn?" Kurt nodded, he did want to wish his brother good luck, kind of. "He's over there, speaking with Evans and Anderson." Kurt thanked him, it took the prince a moment to realise who 'Evans' and 'Anderson' were. Kurt pushed his way through a sea of dark blue tunics and soon found Finn, Blaine and Samuel.

"Kurt?" Finn said, stepping towards his baby brother. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to wish you good luck," Kurt licked his lips, "It's not every day your only brother and heir to the kingdom takes part in a disgusting, barbaric and overall injuring most of our knights in a time where a war lasting seven years just ended." Kurt laughed loudly, Finn's face was beet red and he was avoiding Kurt's eyes. "Well, I hope you win." Kurt pushed past Finn, staring pointedly at Blaine who wore a confused expression on his face.

Kurt left the tent, heading back to the royal booth when a hand took his. "What are you doing?" he hissed, only to stop when he saw it was Blaine.

"I know what you're doing, Kurt, you're trying to get me out of fighting." Blaine pulled Kurt behind the contestant's tent to have privacy. "Why?"

"Because you're the captain of the Daguerro knights, why must you fight in this? You're already getting your golden gauntlets, what is the point? To injure yourself? To have yourself beheaded by the blade of a bronze knight?"

"That's not the point, Kurt." Blaine kept his voice down, so the others could not hear. "Maybe if I win this my troop will actually respect me."

Kurt frowned, "They should respect you anyway, you're their captain, no matter what you're age."

"Well, surprise, they don't." Blaine and Kurt jumped at the sound of the horn signifying the games are beginning. "You should go back to the royal booth."

"Not until you say you'll drop out." Kurt was determined to not let Blaine go through with this.

"I am not going to." Blaine let go of Kurt's hand left him.

"Blaine!" the captain ignored him, "fine."

The games began, Kurt observed the knights fighting and only clapped when Finn won his fights. He did not care to see Blaine's, he always left the royal booth during Blaine's to go explore Estheim. Much to his disdain, Blaine won every one of his fights.

"That Blaine is good with the sword." King Burt said after Kurt returned after Blaine's fight finished. "It appears that he and Finn will duel for the emerald sword."

"The emerald sword?" Kurt bit into a piece of popcorn from bowl in the royal booth.

"Yes, the rewards are different this year. The winner of the competition will win a sword stronger than any other sword in the kingdom." King Burt explained, "I do hope Finn wins."

The finals began, Kurt was forced to watch this one. The fight began, Kurt saw Blaine crack his neck and then swing his sword, hitting the armor on Finn's chest. The crowd gasped. No matter how hard Finn tried, he was never able to strike Blaine.

After five minutes, Blaine performed a parry and Finn hit the dirt, the audience stood on their feet, waiting for the prince to stand. Blaine placed his foot on Finn's chest, signalling the end of the battle. King Burt clapped loudly, smiling though his son lost. Queen Carole was worried for Finn, as he had not stood up yet. Kurt… Kurt was torn. He wanted to be happy that Blaine won but he was angry that Blaine won. He knows that doesn't make sense, but that's just how he feels.

"Come, Kurt," King Burt stood up, "we must present Blaine with the emerald sword." Kurt followed his father and they stood before Blaine, King Burt held the sword in a box in front of him. "Blaine Anderson, captain of the Knights of Daguerro and champion swordsman, the royal family presents the emerald sword." The audience still stood, their eyes fixed on the seventeen year-old champion. King Burt opened the box, revealing the emerald sword. It had a silver blade, with a green ivy inscription from the handle to the tip. The handle was light green with a dark green braid. "Do you accept this sword?" Kurt looked away from Blaine when he saw Finn standing up, he recognised the look on Finn's face to be anger. A terrifying anger Kurt had never seen before.

Finn drew his sword silently, lifting it to strike an unknowing Blaine. Kurt felt his feet moving and his hands pushing Blaine out of the way, Finn's sword hit his shoulder, the blade did not go deep into his skin when Finn realised who he had hit, but it went deep enough.

A woman screamed and Kurt went down.

"Prince Finnegan!" Kurt's father yelled, pushing Finn back so the older prince fell onto the dirt while still holding the emerald sword. Blaine knelt on the ground, putting pressure on Kurt's shoulder with his hand. The whole audience was silent. "Up, now." King Burt dragged Finn to his feet and pulled him from the arena. Blaine lifted Kurt up, which Kurt did not need, he hurt his shoulder he did not break his legs.

Blaine followed the king, Kurt hissed when Blaine ran up some stairs, with each step it jerked his shoulder. Kurt gripped Blaine's tunic, squeezing it every time his shoulder ached, which was most of the time.

"We're going to ride back to the castle, the palace medic will look at Kurt's shoulder." King Burt said, mounting his horse. Finn was silent as he got on his own, Queen Carole followed after them getting on her horse. "Captain Anderson, can you ride Kurt's horse back with him?"

"Of course, my lord." Blaine helped Kurt get on the brown horse, and then climbed up behind him. "Are you okay, Kurt?" Kurt mumbled something and rested against the neck of his horse. Blaine saw the blood seeping through Kurt's royal tunic. "Geez, you're bleeding a lot."

"No you're bleeding a lot." Kurt mumbled absently, Blaine chuckled and began riding the horse back to Daguerro castle. Thankfully Estheim wasn't too far away from Daguerro castle.

When they entered the castle town, a few townspeople gasped when they saw the injured prince. King Burt stopped his horse, "I will stay back and tell the town what has happened. Finn," King Burt glared at the twenty five year-old. "You will stay with me." He turned his attention to Blaine, "As soon as the doctor tells you how Kurt is, you come to me." Blaine promised and Blaine and Queen Carole continued to the castle.

"Captain Anderson!" a servant yelled out happily, the servant whose name was Rydel froze when she saw the bleeding royalty. "Prince Kurt!"

"Rydel, go get the palace physician and bring him to Prince Kurt's chambers." Rydel ran off into the castle. Blaine got off the horse and lifted Kurt off, the prince was paler than usual due to the loss of blood. "Come on, Kurt." Blaine whispered to him as he carried him into the castle, Queen Carole followed him closely.

The queen opened Kurt's bedroom door for him, and Blaine placed Kurt softly onto the bed. Moments later, the palace physician entered the room. He was an old man with white hair and wrinkly skin, his name was Squall. "What happened?" the physician asked as he peeled the bloody tunic off of Kurt.

"Prince Finn struck Kurt with his sword," the physician stopped gaping at the queen. "He was meaning to hit Blaine, who had just beaten him in the finals of the sword duels."

"Well, the cut wasn't deep enough to rupture the muscle." Squall said as he reached into his medicine bag. He pulled out several bandages and a potion. "All we can do is bandage the cut and give him a potion to rid the pain."

"So he'll be fine?" Blaine asked worriedly.

"Yes, Captain, he will be fine." Squall bandaged Kurt up and then poured the potion into Kurt's mouth. "He will wake up soon. He needs his rest." Kurt rolled over and mumbled something about fire.

"Blaine, you should go tell the king Kurt is fine." Blaine didn't want to leave Kurt, it was his fault he was hurt, he should have stood his ground and not have let Kurt push him. "Blaine, go."

Blaine left Kurt's room and went to speak with the king.

* * *

Kurt awoke with a groan. "Ow." He sat up and felt a stiffness in his shoulder. And then he remembered Finn hitting him. He could also vaguely remember Blaine carrying him and putting him in bed. He got out of bed and looked in his body-length mirror. He took off his bandages and pressed his hand against his cut. When he lifted his hand up, there wasn't even a scratch. "That's better." He threw out the bandages and got into a new tunic.

The door opened, "My prince."

"Hello, A."

A entered the room and closed the door behind him. "I came right away when I heard you were hurt." The knight said, Kurt noticed his cloak was covering his face once more. "How are you now?"

"Better." Kurt pushed his tunic off of his shoulder, showing A where the injury had been.

"You used magic?" A touched the soft skin of his shoulder, "That wise of you."

"Thank-you." Kurt covered his shoulder and began preparing for the gauntlet ceremony. "I should go see my father – to tell him I am better."

"Do not show him your injury, my prince, he'll ask questions." A said, Kurt nodded and approached his bedroom door. "Is there something wrong, Kurt?"

"Why are you here, A? Shouldn't you be preparing the gauntlet ceremony?" Kurt heard A shift slightly.

"I will speak to you later, my prince." A pushed past him and left the room. Kurt wasn't going to lie, A was a mysterious person, Kurt only wished that his dream knight would clarify things to make them less confusing.

Kurt left his bedroom and headed off to the throne room, as he stepped closer, he could hear raised voices.

"—Blaine in the first place!"

"Yes, I did, Father! He cheated!" It was his father and Finn. Instead of entering, Kurt stood at the closed door eaves dropping.

"How did Blaine cheat, please enlighten me." King Burt spat.

"I don't know how he cheated but he did! There is no way that a little seventeen year-old could beat me! I'm eight years older than him!" Finn shouted, Kurt rolled his eyes, Finn was so stupid sometimes. He thought everyone younger than him was a lesser being.

"Even if he did cheat, which is very unlikely and impossible, you had no right to hit Blaine. If you had not gotten your head stuck in the clouds, you would not have hit your brother." There was a silence in the throne room. "You're lucky your brother is fine, now, I want you to apologise to Blaine."

"No."

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you say 'no'?"

"If Blaine had not of won, Kurt wouldn't have gotten hit. I think I deserve to have the emerald sword for standing up for what is right—" there was the loud screech of a wooden chair in the throne room, Kurt wondered for a moment, why would there be a wooden chair in the throne room?

"Standing up for what is right?" Blaine? What was he doing in the throne room? "You hit the captain of the Knights of Daguerro for winning a competition that was supposed to be for fun – to celebrate Daguerro. You made it into a serious situation when you hurt, Kurt!"

"It's not my fault Kurt got in the way." Finn was most likely pouting, trying to get their mother to be on his side.

"You shouldn't have been trying to hit me anyway! If you weren't such a spoilt little princess we wouldn't be here."

"Father!" Finn cried.

"Both of you calm down." The king said, "Finn, apologise to Blaine for being a sore loser."

There was a laugh and a frustrated scream. "No, I refuse to apologise for something that he deserved."

"Finnegan, stop it."

"No! I am the prince, I should get the emerald sword!" there was a rustle and a sword clanged to the door. Kurt had had enough, he opened the door to the throne room and saw Blaine and Finn glaring at each other. Their faces were inches from one another and King Burt sat on his throne, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Queen Carole sat on her throne knitting, ignoring the fighting.

"Kurt!" Blaine exclaimed, "How is your shoulder?"

"Fine." Kurt stood in the doorway. "A little sore, but fine."

"That's good." Finn pushed Blaine to the ground and picked up the emerald sword.

"Now it's mine." Finn left the throne room, Kurt was fuming, Finn was such a spoiled brat.

"Finn!" Kurt hissed, but Finn was gone.

"It's okay, Kurt. I don't need it anyway." The two left the throne room to allow the king and queen to talk alone. "I can't believe he hit you, I should have known he would try to that… You would not have gotten hurt." Blaine was staring at his shoulder, it worried Kurt. What if Blaine moved his tunic to see how his shoulder was, he would be in big trouble. "You're still coming to the gauntlet ceremony, right?"

"Yes." Kurt make a move to rub his shoulder to show it still hurt. "I am going to my room for a while, I'll see you there."

"Okay." Blaine bid goodbye to him and left Kurt at his bedroom. Kurt walked in, he decided to get changed into his red tunic with the golden armour on the chest and the shoulders. There was a blue crystal encrusted in the middle of the chest armour, it was a beautiful tunic, Kurt loved it. He had the tunic in light blue and gold, Finn also has a similar pair.

Kurt closed his door behind him and was about to walk to his wardrobe when someone pushed him up against the wall. He cried out but a hand covered his mouth. "Shush, my prince." Kurt relaxed, it was A. "You must stay quiet."

Kurt tried to speak against A's hand but it was all muffled. "Please." A said into his ear. "Do you remember where you first met me?" Kurt nodded, "If I move my hand you will only say where you first saw me, only that. Do you understand," Kurt nodded again. "Alright." A moved his hand.

"Wait—" the hand clapped over his mouth again.

"Kurt, no questions, tell me where you saw me for the first time. In _one _word." Kurt nodded, tears sprung in his eyes, he had never been scared of A before. The hand was gone and Kurt spoke.

He followed the rules and said, "Dream."

The hand was back, "Good. Do you remember what you saw there?"

The hand was gone, "Phantom."

It was covering his mouth once more, "You have a good memory, my prince," A paused, it felt as if he was staring him in the eyes, but Kurt couldn't see anything but A's mouth. "I am going to tell you a few things, things that you will need… Things that will change your entire mindset. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Kurt said once A's hand was gone. A dragged him over to his bed and sat him down on it.

"The dream you had at the age of five consisted of me and a man who you believed to be a phantom in a world full of darkness." Kurt nodded, remembering the dream well. "I told you to never return there, for if you did it would kill you." The knight paused, he seemed to be having a tough time with this. "That was only somewhat true, if you had gone into that world at a young age, like when you were five, that man would have killed you." Kurt squirmed. "However, now that you are seventeen and the time has come, you must return there."

"What?" Kurt managed to get out and A growled at him, okay, Kurt was legitimately scared of A now.

"Be quiet, Kurt!" A hissed, "as I was saying, you will have to re-enter that world to meet the man that tried to kill you all those years ago."

Kurt had so many questions and A wasn't letting him ask them. He pushed A away and turned to him. "If you do not tell me what the _Hell _you're talking about I will tell my father you're abusing me!"

A was silent, "Fine. But sit down." Once Kurt was seated A continued, "The man you saw in that world is the King Demise of Palum, the kingdom of both Daguerro and Gapra. He wielded a very dark magic, a dark magic which he used to become the ruler of the world. Soon, an army consisting of the four sorcerers who carry the power of the four elements; earth, fire, water and shadow." A paused for a moment, "The evil King Demise was forced into that world you were in. But, somehow, the seal the four sorcerers placed upon the world is weakening, every minute and every day he comes one step closer to returning to our world."

"Why does this have to do with me? Why did I have that dream when I was five?!" Kurt was impatient, he wanted answers now.

"It has everything to do with you, my prince because you are the only one who can reseal that world." Kurt burst into laughter, "I am not joking. You are the only one who can find the four sorcerers and complete the challenges they give you to receive the four medallions. The four medallions, when together, will keep the evil king in his hideous world." A took Kurt's hand, "It is your fate to do this."

"But I have no idea where these sorcerers are!" Kurt stood up from the bed and began to pace.

"You'd be surprised, Kurt, you know where these places are. Whether you've been there, or dreamt of them, you've been there." A pulled a piece of paper from under his cloak and gave it to him. "Here is a list of advice for you while you're on your journey."

Kurt read aloud what was on the paper, "'_One in a deep forest, one on a high mountain, one under a sheet of diamonds and one within the house of the dead.' _Are these describing where the sorcerers are or where the medallions are?" Kurt asked his dream knight.

A had a small grin playing on his lips, "Only you can figure that out, my prince."

"Do I have to do this? I feel as if you're forcing me into it." Kurt handed A the paper, "I don't want to do this."

"You have to, otherwise everyone you know and love will be killed." A looked out the window, "I'd advise you to start tonight, my prince, I fear something terrible may happen here soon." A turned around and left the room, leaving the prince of Daguerro alone. The dream he had when he was five was terrifying, if he had to go back there, he would freeze up.

If he had to face that phantom—who he now knew as King Demise, he would die, the evil king would murder him.

But… A had never lied to him, he trusted the knight with his life.

Kurt spent half an hour packing a bag full of clothing. He put a few towels into his bags in case he gets wet or just needs a towel. He made sure each bag (there were two) were tied tightly so nothing fell out while he rode on his horse. After packing those, he grabbed another bag that he would put some food in from the palace kitchens. He was surprised when no one was in there, he wondered why, but didn't really care. He took a few buns, fruits and dried meats and several bottles of water.

He went back to his room and grabbed his bow and quiver and then he began to leave. He froze when he heard a group of people, he hid in a small alcove and saw his father, mother and brother walking with a group of knights and the nobles of Daguerro.

It must be time for the feast. Kurt waited until they all entered the throne room, which had been adjusted for the feast. Kurt left the castle, barely escaping the sight of several guards. He got on his horse, who he had now named Saffron, and he put all his bags on the saddle.

He searched around the stables and there were no knights or guards. Just his luck. Kurt got on his horse and double-checked that his spell book was there, and he rode off.

He should have said goodbye to his parents. What if he dies while he's going on this wild goose chase for these medallions that may or may not exist? His parents will never know where he went or that he even left! What if they think he was kidnapped and turn against everyone, resulting in another war. Kurt stopped Saffron right after he left the castle town, the skies were dark and the only light was from the far off villages.

Kurt shivered, it was actually quite cold.

He should just go back—No, he couldn't. If what A said was true, the evil king could break the seal any moment that would be worse than another war. Kurt set off again, towards Ballad. The first part of the notes on the piece of paper was describing a forest, Ballad is where most of the forests are in Daguerro.

He thought for a moment as he rode towards the town, that he could hear a horse galloping behind him. He took off his bow and pulled an arrow from his quiver – just in case.

The horse galloping behind him grew louder, Kurt stopped Saffron and turned around, aiming to shoot whoever was behind him—"Kurt!"

There was a beat.

"Blaine, what are you doing?" Kurt squinted his eyes in the dark to make out the outline of Blaine's body on his horse.

"I came looking for you during the feast, I saw you leaving on horseback – so I came after you." Kurt bit his lip, he couldn't tell Blaine what he was doing, he can't tell him that if he doesn't collect these dumb medallions that the world they know will be destroyed. "Where are you going?"

"Uh," Kurt swallowed, "To Ballad. I need to see a person who lives within the forest – a sorcerer."

"Why?" the captain wondered.

"To get something from him, for my father." That was a good lie, a really good lie.

"Oh, well I'll come with you. Every prince needs his knight, and besides, the forest can be dangerous at night." Kurt groaned internally. "Uh, is this what you've been stressed about?"

"What do you mean?" Kurt stroked Saffron's mane to calm her.

"You've been acting weird, I assumed you were stressed." Kurt shook his head and Blaine pursed his lips. "Oh, well, okay. So, we should go to Ballad and sleep in the Inn for the night."

Their horses began to trot towards the forest town, Blaine looked over at Kurt, biting his lip. Kurt felt Blaine's gaze and grumbled, "What are you looking at?"

"You missed my gauntlet ceremony." Was all Blaine's said, Kurt could hear the hurt in Blaine's tone.

He had told Blaine he would go twice, and he never went. "I-I… I am so sorry."

"I forgive you, you've got a lot on your mind." Kurt somehow knew that Blaine was simply saying that so Kurt wouldn't feel any worse. They went quiet for a while, the town was now in sight.

"Are you sure you want to go with me?" the prince asked.

"Of course I am, I can't just let you go and get yourself killed." Kurt sighed, Blaine was just like his father, he wasn't a child – he could fight his own battles.

Kurt had no idea that Blaine was more valuable to his journey than he could have ever expected.

* * *

**Next Up: **_Minuet of Forest—_after spending the night in Ballad; Kurt asks an elderly lady – said to be the oldest lady in Daguerro – about the medallions, she gives Kurt the information he needs. He tries to leave Blaine behind but the knight catches up, wondering why Kurt avoids him so much despite their former friendship as children. The pair eventually enter the forest of Stalfos, where they find the sorcerer, or rather, sorceress.  
_"W-We did it."  
"Yeah, we… We did."  
"We should go back and tell Siren... Kurt? Kurt?! KURT!"__  
_

**End Authors Note: **I'm really too tired to edit this, so if there are grammatical or mistakes in the story, I'll fix them in the morning… Or I guess later in the day. Please review, I love knowing what you think!


	5. Chapter Four: Minuet of Forest

**Title: **Melodies of Life

**Summary: **"Have you ever lied to the person you love to protect them? I have." Kurt Hummel went into hiding at the age of 10 to get away from the evil men trying to kill him and his family, leaving his kingdom and best friend, Blaine behind. When they find each other again, Kurt has secrets that he cannot tell anyone, let alone Blaine. Klaine AU, fantasy, romance.

**Warnings: **Foul language and violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything you may recognise within this story.

**Authors Note: **I apologise for the lack of updates. I have been quite busy preparing for my senior year of high school—and sleeping. I hope there are still a few of you reading this. If you are, hi!

**Song: **The song I based this chapter off of is found on YouTube by the name of "Minuet of Forest on Harp & Ocarina (from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) – Spencer's Ocarinas" by spencersocarinas. Honestly, the original song from the game is just as beautiful, but the original is about twenty seconds long – so I found this version, which is a minute and a half. I really encourage you to listen to it!

* * *

Chapter Four: Minuet of Forest

* * *

The town of Ballad was a strange one that is for sure.

As a child, Kurt had always been scared of the people of Ballad. They were always in their homes, when they did come out, it was night and they stared at the small creek they had running through the town.

When the pair entered the town, the townspeople of Ballad were watching them carefully. Every single move they made, the townspeople followed. As Kurt got off his horse, a young girl screamed and ran into her home, scaring him. Blaine stayed by his side, mumbling something about being suspicious. Kurt took his valuables off of Saffron and entered the Inn, Blaine followed close behind.

The lady at the front desk had green hair and she was almost a skeleton, that's how skinny she was. "Do you need something?" She did not even recognise him, how could she not recognise the prince of Daguerro? He was in this village earlier that day for the archery. Her eyes searched over the two, Kurt saw her eyes stick on the jewel he had in the center of his tunic. Kurt's words died in his throat, he couldn't speak. It was impossible.

"We'd like a room please, two beds." Blaine said, pulling out several coins. Kurt only wished he could speak, he would have asked for two rooms. He can't share a room with Blaine! How is he supposed to practise his spells, what if A comes? Kurt is sure Blaine has met the knight before but Blaine has no idea the relationship Kurt has with A.

The lady took the several coins and handed Blaine a key, "How long will you be staying here?" she asked, opening an old book.

"Only a few days." He said and took Kurt's bags, along with his. "Come on, Kurt."

The prince followed Blaine up to the room, there were a few other people staying in the Inn, most were townspeople who didn't have a home. They opened their doors and stared at the two, Kurt moved closer to Blaine, somehow he felt safer being closer to him. Blaine opened up the doors, Kurt was the first to walk in to the room. The room wasn't the cleanest, nor was it the most extravagant. There were two beds, one against each wall, and a table in the middle.

"I know it's not anything like your room in the palace, but we'll have to sleep here." Blaine said as he walked in, he placed their bags on the floor near the table and took off his sword and shield. Kurt saw the golden gauntlets Blaine now wore instead of silver. "You can have this bed." Blaine pointed to the one against the wall with the window. Kurt grabbed his bag and went to the bed. It was the hardest bed he had ever sat on.

Blaine sat down on the other bed and took off his gauntlets, placing it on the floor near his bed, he took off his boots too and then laid down on the bed. The captain's hands rested on his stomach and his eyes closed.

Kurt was hoping Blaine was falling asleep so he could read his spell book but Blaine barely opened his eyes and looked over at him. "What is it that you have to get for your father?" Blaine rubbed his hand over his forehead. Kurt sighed, he might as well tell Blaine about the medallions – he won't tell him exactly what they're for, but he'll tell him.

"My father has asked me to get the four elemental medallions from four sorcerers." Kurt paused, "We've heard that some of the Gapra soldiers are searching for them, if we have them then Daguerro will have the upper hand."

"What do these medallions do?" Blaine sat up, he ran his fingers through his curly hair, Kurt had to avoid smiling at how adorable he looked. "Kurt?"

"Sorry," Kurt had to come up with another lie, he knew what the medallions did, but Blaine didn't have to know that, "The medallions are to symbolize which kingdom has the most power."

"Why doesn't your father just send a knight to the forest to get it? Why would he risk his son getting hurt?" Blaine stood up, and right in front of Kurt, began to take off his tunic – which would leave him in the long-sleeved undershirt and the white pants that resemble tights. Kurt swallowed, Blaine's white shirt made his chest stand out, it made something turn in his stomach. "I mean, you're the prince, you're irreplaceable."

"He said that the sorcerers would not give the medallion to anyone but a royal family member. They wouldn't trust anyone else." Kurt said, his eyes almost bugged out of his skull when Blaine took off the long-sleeved shirt, revealing his chest.

"Oh." Blaine laid back down and scratched his stomach. "Will he still give you the medallion if I'm with you?" The knight asked, scratching his chest now, Kurt could hear the coarse hair on Blaine's chest as the other scratched.

"I believe so." Kurt was insecure to get changed for bed with Blaine just laying on his bed. He had never gotten changed in front of Blaine, well, that's a lie. They had gotten changed in front of each other as children but now they were older – and had gone through changes. Kurt was insecure about his looks and didn't want Blaine to see the pale expanse that is his chest.

Blaine seemed to realise this because he left the room saying he was going to get them water. Kurt quickly took off his tunic, took out his sleeping tunic and changed. He climbed under his bed sheets and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep when Blaine came back in.

Minutes later, Blaine came back into the room with the water, Blaine let out a noise of confusion when he saw Kurt was asleep. Kurt rolled over, his body facing the wall now, his eyes were open as he awaited Blaine to blow out the candles and go to sleep. When there was silence for ten minutes or so, Kurt rolled over, there was a glass of water on the table beside his bed. He reached over and drank from it, it was cool and refreshing. When he set it down, he rolled back over facing the wall.

He was startled when Blaine spoke, "Good night, Kurt." Kurt didn't reply, he was too embarrassed to. But for some reason, when Blaine spoke up to him in the quiet of the night, something had twisted in his stomach. He had never felt that before, he wondered what it was – was he getting sick? He hopes not, he has to find the medallions, if he's sick that would mess up his plans. Speaking of plans, he needed one.

He couldn't just have Blaine with him the entire time. This was his destiny, not Blaine's. He was destined to find these medallions and close the seal that King Demise threatened to break. If Blaine were to come along with him the entire journey, Blaine may do something that could release Demise into the world. He couldn't allow that to happen.

Also, Blaine will make it harder to travel fast between the locations where the sorcerers are hidden. He thought about what A had said, '_One in a deep forest, one on a high mountain, one under a sheet of diamonds and one within the house of the dead.' _The first one, had to be in Ballad. He was already there so he need not worry about the earth medallion. Hopefully he would find the medallion tomorrow or the day after, making it so he could go find the second in only a few days' time. There were a lot of mountains in Daguerro, if memory serves him right, the highest mountain is Gulug – technically it's a volcano but it hasn't been active for years. Kurt sighed, he couldn't think of any place in Daguerro with diamonds, let alone a sheet of them. And the house of the dead? That didn't sound frightening at all. He'd have to come back to those later.

He wondered what the challenge to find the earth medallion would be.

After an hour of wondering and planning, the young prince fell to sleep.

* * *

Blaine awoke with a start, he heard a whimpering across the room. He pushed the blankets off, revealing his naked chest and pyjama pants – which were an old pair of white pants from his uniform. He could barely make out Kurt in the dim light of the Inn room, but from what he could see, Kurt was restless. It was Kurt who was making the whimpering sounds. "Kurt?" he whispered into the room, Kurt didn't respond and he continued to whimper. Blaine stood up, walking across the room to Kurt's bed, the prince had a cold sweat over his body and his face was twisted up in pain.

Blaine swallowed heavily before reaching out and shaking Kurt's shoulder, Blaine could feel the sweat from Kurt's body through his clothes. How long had he been like this before Blaine woke up?

"Kurt?" Blaine continued to shake Kurt's shoulder, "Wake up." Kurt jerked awake, pushing Blaine away screaming. Kurt ran across the room with a small dagger in his hand pointed at Blaine. Blaine stood up, his hands up in surrender. "It's okay, it's just me." He said, smiling slightly, hoping to calm him down.

Kurt stared at him for a moment, his hand shaking as he held the dagger. "Why did you wake me?"

"You were making noises, I thought you were having a nightmare." Blaine rubbed the back of his neck. "Why do you have that dagger?"

Kurt put his arm down at his side, putting the dagger into a holster on his thigh. "I'm the prince of Daguerro a kingdom that just got through a seven year war, I do think I need something to protect myself with while I'm vulnerable." Kurt cleared his throat. "What time is it?"

Blaine shrugged, "I don't know." Blaine looked to the window, "It must be past dawn, the sun is rising."

Kurt nodded and went back to his bed, pushing past Blaine. Blaine watched him for a moment before grabbing his uniform and putting it on, he took his sword and shield and put it on. "I'll be back in a while, I'm going to scope out the town, see if there is any weird stuff going on since you've arrived." Kurt ignored him, Blaine sighed and left the Inn room.

Blaine wondered why Kurt had been acting so cold to him since he arrived back in Daguerro from Lumina. They had been best friends before the war, Kurt had even begged Queen Carole to take him with the royal family when they were escaping. When Kurt arrived back in Daguerro with the rest of the family, Blaine was so happy. His best friend was back! They could continue where they left off. He thought for a moment before he saw Kurt again that maybe Kurt would be proud of him for defeating King Puckerman and taking back Daguerro castle.

Sure, Kurt had been thankful, but Kurt had shown know pride in how well he's done. How well he's done to protect the kingdom his best friend loved so much as a child. During the war, he wanted the kingdom to be the same as it was before so Kurt wouldn't have to see Daguerro destroyed. He had tried his hardest, but he could only do so much to protect the kingdom.

Maybe that was why Kurt was giving him the cold shoulder, he was disappointed Blaine didn't try even harder.

Blaine sighed as he walked through Ballad, looking around to see if anyone was causing any trouble. Most of the village was awake by now, the men and women were tending to the small farm, children were running around laughing and giggling and some people simply walked around.

Blaine caught sight of a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair, a green summer dress and a straw hat chasing a chicken. He saw she was having trouble catching the poultry, the poor woman appeared to be seconds away from bursting into tears. Blaine jogged over, his sword and shield clanging against one another as he did. He picked up the white bird and the woman stopped in her tracks.

"Here you go, miss." She watched him carefully. "You wanted to catch the chicken, right?" he asked, struggling due to the chicken trying to escape from his grasp. She nodded, her blonde hair bounced on her shoulders. "Well, here you go then—"

"Are you a unicorn?" she burst out, her voice was high and calming. Blaine raised his eyebrow and put the chicken down, letting it run off clucking away.

The woman watched him and asked him again. "Are you a unicorn?"

Blaine chuckled to himself, "No, I'm not. Are you a unicorn?" She frowned and shook her head. "Well, if you were, I think you'd make a wonderful unicorn." She smiled happily. "What's your name?"

"My name is Brittany, I live here." She gave him a once over, "You're not from here. You're wearing a knight's uniform."

"That's because I'm a knight of Daguerro." Blaine told her, "I totally forgot, my name is Blaine, Captain of the Knights of Daguerro." Brittany gasped, her blue orbs widened.

"You're a captain?" she was bouncing on her feet now. "That's so cool! Lord Tubbington was a captain once but they took away his title when we found out he was a spy." This caught Blaine's attention.

"Lord Tubbington?" What an odd name. "Who is that?"

"He's my best friend, I'll introduce you!" She took his hand and led him towards a small wooden house. She opened the door, inside it smelt of cinnamon and honey. It was pleasant. Brittany let go of his hand and began searching around, "He's not here." She pouted.

"That's fine—" There was a high pitched scream outside and a collection of children's screaming. Blaine ran out, followed by Brittany who was also curious. The moment Blaine was outside, he was running towards the Inn like a mad man. His sword was unsheathed and he was ready to attack.

Kurt was standing at the Inn, his body pressed up against the side of it, a man's arm pressed against his throat, pinning him there. There was another man holding a sword, ready to strike it through his body. Kurt was scared. He had only just stepped out of the Inn to get some fresh air and he was attacked.

"You're only going to cause problems here!" One of the men shouted, "Get out of here!"

"You and your family left us in our time of need! We don't want you here!" the other said, Kurt hesitated, did his people resent him that much?

"Put the sword down and release him, I will not hesitate to strike down both of you." Kurt saw Blaine in the corner of his eye holding his own sword in a fighting stance.

"Who the f*ck are you?" The man who was pinning Kurt to the wall spat.

"Captain Blaine Anderson of the Daguerro Knights," Blaine told them, there was now a small crowd surrounding them. "Let go of Kurt or my blade will be stained with your blood." Kurt gulped, he had never heard Blaine so… Strict. This must be how he is when he's in battle with his troupe. The strange feeling in his stomach returned, Kurt figured it was fear.

"F*ck off, man, this fairy and his family left us to die during the war!" The man with the sword spat. "He should die along with his stupid family for letting so many of their own people get killed!" Kurt's heart was pounding, what if Blaine couldn't get the men to pull away, would he die like this?

"It is my duty to protect Prince Kurt, let him go." Blaine stepped towards them, a strange glint in his eye.

"NO man!" The man with the sword lunged with his sword, Kurt clenched his eyes, waiting for the blade to pierce through his flesh but it never happened, the arm pushing at his neck was gone too in a flash. He opened his eyes and Blaine stood in front of him. Kurt saw the man who had him pinned was on the ground gasping for air and the man with the sword stood a few feet from Blaine, a look of determination written on his face. "Move." The man hissed.

"No, I told you, my duty is to protect him. I will do that at any means necessary." Blaine said, Kurt couldn't see Blaine's face, but he could imagine the fiery in his hazel eyes. "Stand down."

The man shook his head, the man was about to charge at Blaine but everyone stopped.

An elderly lady stepped between them, wearing a brown cloak and a green belt around her waist. She stared at Blaine and Kurt for a moment before turning to the two men. "Leave them alone, or else I will send you into Stalfos." Without a second thought, the two men ran from her, fearing the sound of her threat. She turned back to Blaine and Kurt. "Come with me." She ordered, Blaine looked back at Kurt, nodding at him. Kurt bit his lip and followed the lady, Blaine was close behind.

The lady led them to a wooden house, smaller than all the others. Before they entered, the lady turned to Blaine. "Stand outside and guard the door. My villagers are tense right now, they're minds are not in the right place. You must protect this house in case they come for his highness." Blaine nodded, unsheathing his sword once more. Kurt followed the woman inside the house, closing the door behind them, leaving Blaine outside.

"What are you doing here, your highness?" She sat down on a small rocking chair, in the center of the small house, there was a large cauldron with a red liquid boiling in it. There was a small bed beside the old woman's chair and a couch, where Kurt was now sitting. It was barely enough room for one person to live, how can she live in this? "You're here for the earth medallion, aren't you?"

Kurt raised his eyebrow, "How did you know?"

"My dear friend told me someone would be coming from the castle to retrieve it. I had no idea it would be the prince and his knight." The old lady pulled a ladle out from under her chair and a mug, she scooped some of the red liquid and poured it into the mug. "Drink this, my lord, it will calm your nerves." Kurt took it and drank from the mug. It tasted sweet like apples and candy.

"What is your name?" Kurt asked, already feeling the drink calm him.

"My name is Leif, I am the oldest woman in Ballad." Leif tapped her fingers on the wooden arm of her chair. "So, are you here to find the earth medallion?" Kurt took another sip and nodded. "I see. Then it is true, King Demise is gaining power."

"You know of King Demise? I thought only the sorcerers were aware of him." Leif smirked at him, "What?"

"My lord, I am the oldest woman in my village – I am also the oldest woman in Daguerro. I have lived in this forest for hundreds of years, when I was born, Daguerro wasn't the kingdom that owns this land. It was a kingdom named Palum, with a wise, handsome king named Robert Lane. In his time as king, he married a young woman who became queen. She was a beautiful woman with long flowing black hair and crystals for eyes. The two of them had two daughters, Princess Serah and Princess Echo. They were born six years apart. When Princess Echo was six, King Robert changed. He made a wish to an old mage, he wanted to rule the entire world so his daughters wouldn't have to go to war to gain the land when they were older and he was no longer king. King Robert used his new found powers to destroy the other kingdoms surrounding Palum," Kurt raised his brow, there were other kingdoms outside of Palum? "Yes, there were other kingdoms outside of Palum," she said, answering his question. "King Robert obliterated them with his power, the kingdoms of Outset, Alexandria and Nautilus. These kingdoms are now scattered villages around the world." She explained, "King Robert soon realised that conquering the world had its consequences. His citizens were protesting and rioting. He turned on his people, he began using his dark magic on them."

"That's terrible!" Kurt was almost finished his drink.

"It was, my lord, Palum was in a grave time. King Robert had been the one to bring it off its feet and he was the one bringing it down. King Robert soon began killing anyone who questioned his ability to rule." Leif tapped her fingers on the chair again. "The world was becoming a dark land, where people were scared to even get out of their beds to get a glass of water." Kurt placed the mug down on a small table beside the couch. "Four young men and women, coming from different parts of Palum, came together with an army of mages and witches. With all of their power, coming together as one, they were stronger than King Robert. The four of them, the strongest sorcerers and sorceresses in the world, attacked the king and sent him into a land that he will live for the rest of eternity by himself." Leif sighed, "The kingdom of Palum rejoiced now that the king, who they soon nicknamed King Demise because he was days from bringing the world to its demise. The queen was ashamed of her husband, and she left the kingdom, leaving her daughters – who were now eighteen and twelve – to rule the kingdom. I saw all of this unfold, I witnessed the murders and genocide. I-I…" Leif paused, "I was married to the man who did all of this."

Kurt stopped breathing. How is it possible that he is sitting the same room as the wife to King Demise, the first queen of Palum? But, how has she lived that long?

"I know what you're thinking, my lord, how have I been able to live so long?" Kurt nodded, "That drink you just drank, it's revitalizing potion – it is also known as the drop of life potion. The amount you have drunk isn't enough for you to become immortal, the amount I have has. I have decided to become immortal so that I can guarantee that Robert does not return… Unfortunately, I haven't thought of him returning by breaking the seal, yes he was powerful but I had no idea he had the ability to do that." She stood up and walked over to a bookshelf, "You're a mage, correct?"

Kurt's breath hitched in his throat, "H-How did you know?"

"A few years ago, a cloaked knight of Daguerro came here. He was very kind to me, somehow, now that I think about it, he seems familiar as if I have seen him before. Which I couldn't have, I haven't left this forest since I entered it hundreds of years ago." Leif blinked and realised she was off track. "Sorry—I was preparing a meal for the knight, I knew how tired the Daguerro knights were because of the war, and I wanted to treat him well since he was protecting the kingdom. As I was preparing my potato and carrot stew, I noticed him admiring my bookshelf. I asked him what book he was interested in as I had formed quite a collection over the years. He picked out a spell book, saying he knew a young mage who would need this." She paused staring at the empty space where the book had been. "I wondered who he was talking about, and he told me that he had just come from the village of Lumina – a town on the outskirts of Daguerro. I had heard that the royal family had gone there from a dear friend. I had a hunch that the younger prince had magic." There was a pause between them. "And now that hunch is confirmed."

"Please don't tell anyone, please. I do not want to be targeted any more than I already am for being prince." Kurt plead, "If what just happened outside is any clue, some of Daguerro citizens aren't happy that we're back."

"Of course, my lord." Leif came back and sat down in her rocking chair. "It will join the collection of secrets I have kept since I was a young girl." Kurt thanked her.

Kurt licked his lips, "I have a question, you mentioned twice that you had a dear friend and they knew I was coming to Ballad for the earth medallion. And how did they know my family and I were in Lumina?"

"I have known my dear friend since the days in Palum, she was the only one who stayed with me after leaving the kingdom. She is the one who holds the earth medallion." Kurt was stumped, A had said sorcerers, as in male. He didn't mention any women. "Her name is Siren, she's one of the sorceresses who sent King Demise into the other realm."

"W-Where is she?!" Kurt stood up.

"She is in her temple deep in the forest of Stalfos. If you are to go there, my lord, you must keep your knight at your side at all times." Kurt frowned, "There are many dangerous creatures within that forest and I do not want you getting hurt."

"I do have a bow and arrow in the Inn, I can protect myself." Kurt folded his arms in front of him. "I am not a child."

"I know you aren't, my lord, I simply wish to keep the sole protector of Daguerro uninjured." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Please, my lord, I can tell you have a dislike for the man but taking him with you will aid in your journey. He knows his way around the kingdom better than anyone, especially after the war. And when the time comes when you must go to Gapra, he knows how to get there. Take him." Leif stood up and opened the house door, "You're the boy that killed King Puckerman, aren't you?"

Blaine turned around, his eyes flickering to Kurt, who still stood in the house. "Yes, I am."

Leif nodded and patted his shoulder, "Thank-you," She looked back at Kurt who was frustrated. "Kurt, go get your bow and arrow, when you're back, I will tell you where Lady Siren is." Kurt pushed past them to head back to the Inn, Blaine was about to follow him but Leif stopped him. "He is stubborn and naïve, though he'd deny it if you say that to him. You must watch over him in the Stalfos forest, where the sorceress he wishes to seek resides. Many people go mad in Stalfos, I fear that he will be one of the countless victims. Do not let him out of your sight and protect him with everything you have in your arsenal." She ordered him, "The fate of Daguerro rests on his shoulders."

"I will do anything to protect Kurt, he's my best friend." Blaine assured her, "I do not think he considers me that anymore."

Leif pursed her lips, "Have I met you before?"

Blaine thought for a moment, "I do not believe so." Leif hummed.

"The sorceress' name is Siren, she holds the earth medallion and she lives deep in the forest of Stalfos in a temple. After going through the forest, there is a Sacred Meadow. The meadow is a maze, if you make the wrong turn, you'll magically transport back to the entrance of the meadow." She told him, "I'm telling you this because I know Prince Kurt will get frustrated." Blaine snorted, that's true. "Lady Siren will have a challenge for Kurt, I want you to help him."

"I will, don't worry." Blaine promised as Kurt came back with his bow and arrow, his small bag and Blaine's bag. "Thank-you, Kurt that was kind."

"What are the directions to get to Siren?" Kurt ignored Blaine.

"These aren't exactly directions, but if you follow these than you will find the temple." Leif closed her eyes for a moment before speaking once more, "_We are guardians of this land... Guide us to where we once stood. Only then can you enter the true Sacred Meadow…_" She reopened her eyes, "it isn't as complicated as it sounds."

"It doesn't sound complicated at all," Kurt said, "I'm going now." He left without another word to Leif or Blaine. Leif ran her fingers through her brittle grey hair.

"Protect him." Was all she said before going back into her house, Blaine ran after Kurt who was quickly walking into the forest. Kurt didn't even notice him when he caught up, walking at his side.

Even though it was morning, as soon as they walked into Stalfos forest, it was almost as dark as night. Blaine glanced over to Kurt, whose eyes were set dead in front of him. They were silent for the longest time. Blaine sighed, pulling his sword from its sheath. He swung it around a bit, getting a good feel for it, in case something jumped out from the bushes. "I should have taken the emerald sword. It must be much sharper than this old rusty blade." Blaine chuckled, hoping Kurt would laugh with him… He didn't. "Finn is a good swordsmen, I'll admit that, but I think he needs some work." Kurt sniffed, and Blaine took that as a reply. "How is your shoulder, by the way, it must be sore—"

"It's fine." Kurt said stiffly.

"Oh, okay." Blaine smiled at him, "I was scared when Finn hit you, you know. I was terrified, I thought that the blade had hit an artery because you were bleeding so much."

"I wasn't bleeding that much, maybe as much as I would if I had pricked my finger." Kurt was watching the forest with his eyes peeled, he wish he didn't have to speak with Blaine, this would be better if the knight was silent.

"You bled through your tunic, and you got some on me." Blaine smirked, "You were also unconscious by the time we got back to the palace."

"Well, I'm fine now, so drop it." Kurt hissed, Blaine frowned, for a second it was like they were joking around like best friends usually do. He was wrong. They continued walking through the forest, looking for the guardians of the land. Blaine wondered what they could be, maybe statues or phantoms. Blaine giggled to himself when he had the idea that maybe the guardians were rabbits. "Why are you giggling?"

"I was just thinking about the possibility of the guardians being rabbits." Blaine shrugged, Kurt stopped in his tracks.

"Are you serious?" Kurt said in a monotone voice.

"I just thought it was funny." Blaine shrugged again, Kurt glared at him.

"I cannot believe that I have to search for these medallions with you against my will." Kurt stormed off deeper into the forest. Blaine's brow furrowed, against his will?

"What do you mean?" Blaine followed after him, his heart beginning to pound in his chest. Kurt spun around, anger evident in his eyes. "Do you not want me here?"

"How stupid can you get Blaine?! I don't want you here, I've never wanted you here!" Kurt shouted into the silent forest, "I am not that stupid kid I was seven years ago! I don't want to hang out with you or do I want to go on 'adventures' with you like I did when I was ten. I want to do things on my own, ever since I came back to Daguerro you won't leave me alone!" Blaine took a step back, feeling worse than he ever had in his entire life. "Just go away!"

"I can't, I need to stay with you to make sure you're safe." Blaine said, no matter how much Kurt didn't want him there, he had to stay with him.

"Oh my God! For the millionth time, I can defend myself!" Kurt screamed, a few birds flew from their nests in the trees. "You all make it sound like I am a child! I am not! I am seventeen years old and I can defend myself, I don't need some kid following me around thinking we're best friends!" There was a long silence between them. Blaine licked his lips and put his sword away.

"Fine." He turned around, walking away from Kurt. He was hoping to hear Kurt call after him, but he didn't get one. He knew this was a mistake, leaving Kurt on his own, he promised the old lady that he would protect Kurt with everything he had. But he left Kurt on his own in a forest where people go mad. Blaine took out his sword and swung it into a tree, knocking some of the bark off.

What had happened to Kurt in those seven years he was gone to make Kurt hate him so much? They had left on good terms, Blaine had even been the one to get Kurt take some clothes with him – knowing the prince would need them. It made no sense.

Blaine sliced at another tree screaming out in frustration.

"Stop attacking the trees." A calm voice came from behind the tree Blaine was attacking. "They have done nothing to you and do not deserve harm." Blaine blinked and stared at her, she had wrinkly skin and light golden hair, her eyes sparkled and she wore a green dress that dragged in the dirt. "It is nice to meet you, Captain Anderson."

Blaine raised his brow. "How do you know who I am?"

"I am not stupid, Captain, I do know the hero of Daguerro when I see him." She chuckled, stepping towards him, Blaine noticed a necklace around her neck with a green jewel, and it shined though it was dim. "You are the man who single handily took back the castle for the royal family and killed the king of Gapra."

"I am." Blaine confirmed.

"You are known to many in this world, Captain, even if you do not know them yourself." The lady looked up at the sky thoughtfully. "Where is the prince? You promised Lady Leif to protect him, no?"

Blaine gulped, "I-I did, but he…"

"He didn't want you with him. He didn't want to be with someone who was ordered to protect him. Correct?" She asked, still watching the sky.

"Yes. But I wasn't ordered to watch over him, the old lady – I guess her name is Leif – told me to watch over him. I would have done that anyway, he's my best friend, well he was. I don't want him to get hurt." Blaine fiddled with his fingers in front of him. "I thought he was gone for seven years, I thought I had lost him…" The woman looked back at Blaine, seeing the turmoil in the knight's facial expression. "I would protect Kurt whether he was a prince or not. Since he came back to Daguerro, he's acted like he absolutely hates me! I don't know what I've done!"

"The prince went through a lot while in Lumina, he had to grow up on his own without any friends to help him along." The woman told him, "Prince Kurt is not the boy who left Daguerro seven years ago"

"I could tell you that." The knight snorted, "He's stubborn, arrogant, a bit spoiled and has a terrible attitude!" Blaine could go on but the woman cleared her throat, making him stop.

"But you love him anyway." She said with a voice clear as day. Blaine's entire body froze at her words.

"I do not love the prince!" Blaine didn't know why his voice was shaking.

"You're a fantastic warrior, Captain, but you're a terrible liar. Tell me with a straight face you do not have feelings for the prince of Daguerro." She stared into his soul. Blaine bit his lip, he did not have feelings for Kurt! That's preposterous! Kurt was only a friend. A friend who he never wanted to be upset. A friend who he never wanted to be hurt. A friend who he wanted to protect so he was never scared and a friend who he wanted to hold and to tell everything was going to be okay.

Oh no.

"You just had an epiphany, did you not?" She walked towards him placing a hand on his shoulder. "That is why you want to protect him without being given orders that is why you fought so hard to protect Daguerro so that your prince could return safely with no troubles."

"Kurt is a friend, nothing more." The woman laughed loudly.

"As I said before, Captain, you're a terrible liar." She patted his shoulder, "I am Lady Siren, sorceress of the forest and holder of the earth medallion." She took a green disk from underneath her dress. "This is what Prince Kurt is seeking."

Blaine eyed the emerald disk, "May I have it." Lady Siren shook her head. "Why not?"

"It is the prince that must take the disk."

"But—"

"No buts, Captain Anderson, it must be Prince Kurt." Blaine pouted, "You must go find the prince and bring him to my temple. I left because I felt someone disrupting the balance of the forest – and I found you attacking one of my trees."

"Leif told me that we had to put guardians back into their place to find the Sacred Meadow!" Blaine shouted, angry that Leif had lied.

"You believe an old bat who has lived longer than scientifically possible?" Lady Siren screeched, "That red goop she drinks – though it causes immortality – gets you drunk as a skunk!"

Blaine pursed his lips. "So, where is the temple then?"

"Over there." Siren pointed to a clearing between some trees. And there stood the temple, covered in vines and moss. "Just come on in when you find Prince Kurt and then we'll talk." She turned around, walking back to her temple. "But be warned, Captain Anderson, there is a creature living in my forest that has escaped my grasp many times. Some call him the Phantom of King Demise himself. However, I have seen the phantom take different forms. The most recent, was the young Princess Echo and his older daughter Princess Serah. If the prince encounters him in any different form than King Demise, he will fall for the phantoms tricks. If he does… Grave things will happen." And she went to her temple. Leaving Blaine alone in the forest.

Without another second, Blaine ran through the trees. He had to find Kurt.

* * *

Kurt strolled along, tightening his grip on his bow ever so often. He was guilty for telling Blaine to leave. The other man's foolish banter was keeping Kurt from his thoughts, it was a nice get away for the time Blaine was with him.

He wondered if Blaine had gone back to Daguerro to tell King Burt that he was still in the forest. If he did, his father would be cross because he had no idea Kurt was here.

Kurt bit his lip, it would be a few hours before the Daguerro search party came for him. Then he would get into trouble by his parents, lectures and most likely punishment. He would have to tell his father and mother of King Demise's impending return. It was doubtful they'd believe him. It had been hundreds of years since King Demise last stood on this planet – his parents would think he was mad!

"Kurt!"

He stopped in his tracks, turning around to see who it was. The call of his name echoed through the forest, whoever it was could be anywhere. He continued on, searching for these guardians to find the temple.

"KURT!" he heard once more, it was clearer now. It was Blaine.

Kurt rolled his eyes and jogged away from where it sounded like the call was coming from. He didn't want Blaine with him, as guilty as he was, he knew that what he had said was true. Blaine and everyone else acted as if he was a child! He was not! He was a man!

Kurt kept running, the cold air smacked against his face until he had to stop due to it getting too painful.

"Hello." Kurt's panting stopped. There in front of him, stood a young woman. She had long black hair and eyes like a summer day. She wore a silver tiara atop her head and wore a long white dress with blue stitching. "You're Prince Kurt, correct?"

Kurt chewed his cheek and nodded. "I knew it!" she giggled, "I am Serah, I was princess once." Kurt frowned, wasn't Princess Serah the first princess of Palum? "I guess I have a sixth sense about royalty!"

"Aren't you dead?" Kurt asked her, she giggled once more.

"I took some of my mother's life potion, except I used it properly so I never aged!" She told him, she took a few steps towards him. "What are you doing in the forest of Stalfos?"

"I'm searching for the temple where Lady Siren lives." He said, she smiled at him strangely but he continued. "I'm going there to retrieve the earth medallion from her."

"Why would you need that?" She twirled her hair around her finger.

"I-I, uh, I'm trying to repair the seal that keeps King Demise in his realm." He had no idea why he was spilling his journey to a seemingly dead girl.

"But…" She took a large step back, "That seal is trying to bring my father back. I want my father back, I love him."

"I'm sure you do, but he's dangerous—"

"He was only trying to make a better future for my sister and me!" She hissed angrily. "He did nothing wrong but rid the world of the people who sought to destroy everything he had worked so hard for!" She was red in the face.

Kurt put his bow around his back and replied, "That was a long time ago and people believe he was evil. I do not want to anger my kingdom but letting him loose." Princess Serah frowned again, even worse than before.

"But he's my father! If yours was trapped in some realm that no one can get to except some retched old lady and her friends. I want my father!" Princess Serah burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Serah, but I can't just let him out!" He shouted, "I'm supposed to be the one to repair the seal and keep him there!" Princess Serah's body went even paler. "I can't just ignore my destiny to please a princess that was supposed to be dead hundreds of years ago!"

"Please!" she ran forward taking his hands, "Don't repair the seal, let my father go! I miss him so much! He'd be good for your kingdom! He'll protect us all! I promise you!" The sincerity in her voice caught Kurt off guard. He… He wanted to believe her. "I'll make sure he doesn't do anything bad, he'll make Gapra and Daguerro join together again and create an even better Palum!" She stared into his eyes and he fell under her spell.

"O-Okay." He nodded, "I'll save your father."

She hugged him tight, "Thank-you so much Prince Kurt!" She smiled evilly over his shoulder, pulling a blade from the air, she pressed it against his back. "I owe you so much."

In a flash, Kurt was on the ground, there was a shrill scream and Princess Serah was pinned up against an Evergreen Tree by none other than Blaine. His sword was drawn and he had the blade pressing into the skin of her neck.

"Blaine! What the Hell?" Kurt stood up fuming, "Let her go!"

"Kurt, stand back." Blaine ordered him, Kurt rolled his eyes and walked by, pulling Blaine away from Serah.

"She's not dangerous! She just wants her father back!" Kurt had his hands on Blaine's chest, holding him back. Blaine clenched his teeth, he was too late, Kurt had already been tricked by King Demise. "If you're going to hurt her, you're going to have to go through me." Kurt said sternly, not hesitating for a minute. Blaine looked over Kurt's shoulder at King Demise's form as his daughter. He was grinning at Blaine, Blaine could see his true form; large, black and flaming hair. But when Kurt saw him, he saw the young Princess Serah.

As the minutes grew on, Kurt did not budge. King Demise's phantom stepped towards them, he began chuckling, drawing his sword and pointing it at Kurt. "Blaine, back off." Kurt was unaware of the evil king's phantom's advances.

"Prepare to meet your untimely end." King Demise spoke, his voice was gravelly and thick.

Blaine acted quickly, he pushed Kurt away, knocking the prince onto the ground. Blaine's sword clanged loudly against the phantoms. They both stumbled backwards. Suddenly, the phantom moved at lightning speed, pinning Blaine up where the knight had done the same to him minutes before. Except this time, the phantom was chocking Blaine.

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, begging for air, when he reopened them, he saw Kurt sitting on the ground watching him. "K-Kurt!" He coughed out, still struggling, "H-Help!"

Kurt watched Princess Serah choking Blaine and he couldn't move. Blaine was trying to stop this young girl from getting her father back. Why would Blaine do that? That didn't sound like something a knight would do. Blaine should be helping Kurt return King Demise to the world, making her happy.

"Kurt!" Blaine screams were strained, "P-P-Please!" Blaine's hands grabbed at the phantoms much larger ones, enclosed over his throat. Blaine closed his eyes, if Kurt didn't get up soon, he would either die or pass out from the lack of oxygen.

Kurt continued to sit, watching the young Princess choke his former best friend. He stood up and walked over to her, "Let go of him." He said in a quiet voice.

"No!" A voice shouted, Kurt was stunned, that wasn't the light voice of Princess Serah. It was a dark, manly voice. "He shall die!" All of a sudden, Princess Serah transformed into a tall, muscular man with dark clothes and red hair.

_King Demise_.

Kurt didn't give it a second thought, he pulled his bow off of his back and an arrow from the quiver. He shot the arrow at King Demise's head. The thin wooden arrow bounced right off the king's head, but it did cause him to let go of Blaine. Blaine fell to the ground, coughing loudly, taking in the air he had missed.

"You little cretin." The dark lord growled, turning his body to face Kurt. "Do you dare stand up against me?"

"Blaine is my friend, he matters more to me than a girl missing her father ever would!" Kurt said proudly, "You tricked me! I thought you were Princess Serah and I was moment away from letting your seal break!"

"If it weren't for that stupid boy, it would have worked." King Demise hissed, "He must die!" King Demise lunged at Blaine who was still on the ground vulnerable. Kurt took out the dagger he had on his thigh and stabbed the king.

"Don't touch him." Kurt screamed as he stabbed the king over and over again. The king fell to his knees, collapsing. Blaine stood up, brushing the dirt off his tunic. Blaine watched Kurt stab the phantom until his arm grew tired. "How did you that wasn't Princess Serah?" Kurt asked sitting on the ground.

"I found the temple and the sorceress living within it, well technically she found me because I was uh, attacking a tree. She told me that King Demise's phantom had been wandering the forest and that if he found you, he would probably take form as his daughter to get the pity out of you. It worked…" Kurt stared at the ground ashamed, "Her name is Siren and we don't need to find some dumb guardians to get to her temple. She said Leif is just a drunk old woman." Kurt snorted at Blaine, Blaine grinned, this was more like the Kurt from seven years ago.

"I-I am sorry that I told you I didn't want you with me." Kurt whispered, "If it weren't for you, I would have let King Demise go."

"Don't worry about it." Blaine said, holding out a hand for Kurt to take. Kurt took it and Blaine pulled him up off the ground. "We should go back to Siren—"

King Demise stood up from the ground, charging at Kurt, Blaine drew his sword and sliced the phantoms head clean off. Blaine groaned, "W-We did it."

"Yeah, we… We did." Kurt suddenly felt faint, something wasn't right. After Blaine beheaded the king, it had seemed like a dark mist had emitted off of the king, floating right over to Kurt.

"We should go back and tell Siren..." Blaine walked over to the king's head and kicked it slightly. From behind him, he heard a thud, like a body hitting the ground. "Kurt?" He asked without turning around, when he didn't receive an answer, he twisted his neck to look back at the prince. Kurt laid on the ground, unmoving. "Kurt?!" Blaine crawled over to him, shaking him slightly. The prince was limp and cold, as if he had died. He placed his fingers over Kurt's neck, aching to feel the fluttering of Kurt's heartbeat beneath his fingertips.

There wasn't one.

"KURT!"

* * *

**Next Chapter: **_Footsteps of Desire—_Lady Siren, guardian of the forest and holder of the earth medallion had expected her day to go as planned. She'd wake up, eat, read her books and await the return of Captain Anderson with the prince. She would have never expected Captain Anderson to return with tears in his eyes and a dead prince in his arms.  
_"What happened?"  
"I-I don't know! I killed the phantom and then he just fell to the ground! He doesn't have a heartbeat and he isn't breathing! You have to save him!"  
"Was he injured in the fight?"  
"N-No, the phantom never touched him."  
"I'm sorry, Captain Anderson, there is nothing I can do."_

**End Authors Note: **Thanks for reading! I am sorry for the cliff hanger. It had to be done. The next update will be in either a week or two weeks. School is tomorrow and I have to update my other big fic, The Glee Club (check that out!), so yeah. See you all soon!

**Tumblr: **crisscolferklainewhatever . tumblr . com


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